Yume to Memori to Kimochi da
by sanadayuina
Summary: And they are not sure… are their feeling is theirs or Alaude and Giotto' feeling? Are they really loved and loving and not only become substitute or just vessel? Because of that, they are scared to walking together./Lemon in later chapter. 1827, AlaGio.
1. Dream

**A/N****: **If you are 1827 fans from Indonesia or are able to understand Bahasa Indonesia, you might have noticed that this is the same fic that I published more than a month ago if I'm not wrong. But, I think it will be worth it to re-read it again (or just the last chapters) because I will add some lemon in the later chapters (dunno which one yet) and some minor changes. Oh yes, I am going to break the one-shot to two-shot or three-shot trend. Who knows? :D And the lemon is going to be written to fulfill my promise to my friend that I made before the fasting month started and have only been able to touch lately. Hahaha… *goes to emo corner* Die college! Die!

Regardless, this story may remind you of NG Life at one point or another… I was unconsciously being inspired by that particular manga.

Enough ranting from me, then! Please give this story a try! :D

**Disclaimer**: Standard disclaimer applied Katekyo Hitman Reborn © Amano Akira.

**Warning****:** Mention of OCs, heterosexuality. Possibly able to give the reader a headache, grammar and spelling errors and the worst choice of vocabulary.

**Pairing**: Main 1827 and AlaGio—one-sided 6927, D27. Mentioned DaEle, AlaOC, GioOC.

**Summary****:** And they are not sure… are their feelings theirs or Alaude and Giotto's feelings? Are they really loved and loving and not only a substitute or just a vessel? Because of this, they are scared to walk together.

**Beta Reader:** THANKS A LOT FOR _**nightfayte**_ who kindly beta-ed this pathetic story for me. :D

_**Oo~~**~~oO**_

_**DREAM, MEMORY, AND FEELING**_

_**Dai Ikka wa:**_

_**Yume**_

_**Oo~~**~~oO**_

_Dark._

_So dark._

_He really couldn't move, couldn't do anything but stare blankly at the slowly binding darkness._

_Tsuna_knows_ he's dreaming. He just didn't know _how_ he knew and why he's experiencing this kind of dream._

_When he was just thinking about giving up and pleading at Mukuro to stop—because, who else was _able_ to and would _want_ to play with Tsuna's dream, except for that particular illusionist? And it's clear that it won't be the first, nor the last time Mukuro would meddle with Tsunayoshi's dreams._

_But before he can do anything, three things happen simultaneously._

_Tsuna__ suddenly felt the air being taken away from his lungs, just as the invisible rope that bound him loosened and made him fall. And the third thing…_

_Light._

_Slowly but surely, somewhere in the distance, Tsuna could see the light coming towards him—or becoming brighter. He didn't know._

_Then, he heard the sound of laughter and crying, the deafening sound of a gun and the velvety whisper that almost can't be heard, scream…_

_Shivering violently—because all of this reminds Tsuna too much of the Vongola Trial from 'the far away yet past future of ten years later'—Tsuna raised his hands and pressed them tightly to his ears and tried his hardest to ignore and dismiss the voices._

_Then, suddenly all of the sounds disappear and are replaced with—pictures? Shadows? A projection?—something that Tsuna couldn't put a name to._

_Vongola Primo stands with his back turned on Tsuna, talking softly to someone who reminded Tsuna too much of Hibari Kyouya. The platinum-blonde haired man—Tsuna couldn't remember his name, but he _knows_ that the man was the first Cloud Guardian from his uncanny resemblance to Tsuna's own Cloud Guardian—tilts his head to the side, as if trying to listen to something other than what Primo was saying to him._

_Vongola Primo, the man who—according to many people—looked very much like Tsuna, looked up at the taller man—_Alaude_, thinks Tsuna, suddenly remembering the name of one the most intimidating men he had ever seen. The golden haired male then suddenly stands on tip-toe to reach Alaude's height and kisses the stoic man's cheek with a tenderness that Tsuna didn't know any male could ever produce._

_And—like a suddenly dead lamp—everything returned to the darkness._

_**Oo~~**~~oO**_

_Can you hear me?_

_Are you able to fulfill my wish?_

_There is nothing else that I want._

…_What I want?_

_For me, for _you_ Decimo…_

_Do you understand?_

_No, of course not…_

_This world is small…_

_This ever changing world… will it… maybe… _finally_ let us be together?_

_Even in death, we can't be one._

_I want to meet…_

_I want to meet him…_

_I miss him…_

_So… very… miss him._

_Alaude..._

_My most important Alaude…_

_Decimo, can you fulfill this one wish?_

_Only this one thing…_

_For once again… love him…_

_**Oo~~**~~oO**_

Tsuna woke up with an uncomfortable feeling in his throat, eyes looking blankly at his room's plain ceiling. Barely, just barely he can still hear the pleading whisper of Vongola Primo in a part of his conscious mind.

Pleading and begging…

But Tsuna doesn't understand what the Vongola founder meant. What did he _really_ want? Why Tsuna? _How_ could Tsuna help him?

And what is the _meaning_ of all of this?

Taking a deep breath and covering his eyes to calm himself down, Tsuna tries hard to understand the voice that had suddenly resonated inside of his dream.

…A dream? Or memory?

Tsuna didn't really understand.

And on top of everything, thinking was never the most interesting thing for the Vongola Decimo.

Opening his eyes slowly, Tsuna begins pulling himself up into a sitting position and messing his hair while yawning widely.

Don't dwell on it too much, he decided, if not, he would only get a headache. And he also didn't want to be late for school—Hibari-san really didn't have any mercy for late-comers—or let his breakfast be stolen by Lambo or Reborn—who, although already returned to his original, adult form along with the other Arcobaleno for almost a year, still lived in the Sawada residence.

Yes, there were many more important things to do and think about rather than a strange dream…

.

Tsuna completely ignored his Hyper-Intuition and the feeling that there was something wrong. He ignored the reflection of Primo in his window glass that he had his back turned to and Primo, who stared at the back of Tsuna's retreating head as he stood and walked to the door, sadness clear in those brilliant eyes.

.

Monotone.

Boring.

No one knows since when Hibari Kyouya started looking at the world with a bored gaze.

Everything was the same.

Nothing changed.

Nothing was ever different.

… Really… boring…

Even after all the problems with the mafia, the world was still not exciting enough.

_[Really?]_

Hibari spun around, his eyes looking around wildly, searching for the source of the voice. But he didn't find anything.

Didn't find anyone.

_[__You—so much like me back then—always looking in the wrong direction. Always looking at the wrong place.__]_

Growling angrily, Hibari got his tonfas out.

_[__One hundred years. Two hundred years. Three hundred years. Year after year, passing by. World changing, little by little. Will we finally be able to be together again? We, who were parted in both life and death. The Cloud Guardian from Decimo's generation… Are you able to hear my voice… finally? Can you change our fate? The wild animal that knows no such thing such as weakness and losing… Are you different from me? Are you able to chase and hold onto he, who is important? … And bring together we, who have been separated…__]_

_**Oo~~**~~oO**_

All of a sudden, everything around Hibari starts melting away and is wrapped in darkness. Hibari's eyes are narrowed dangerously in anger, looking around his surroundings with barely contained emotion. His hands grip his tonfas tightly, ready to strike at any moment.

Then, suddenly, figure after figure walk past Hibari. As fragile as fog, the silvery-white figures come and go, come and go—walking past and through Hibari, as if he didn't exist and wasn't standing in their way.

The sound of laughter and cries echo from every direction, and make Hibari's ears ring almost painfully.

And then… silence.

The silence that comes is all too sudden making Hibari wonder if someone had taken away his ability to hear. But that passing thought is easily dismissed as silly, because all of a sudden, Hibari could hear two pairs of footsteps coming towards him from the direction he was facing.

The fog like figures then disappear, leaving Hibari alone to wait for whoever dared to—

The Disciplinary Committee's _Iinchou_ can only inhale sharply when he sees two people who he has only ever seen in passing in the 'future' suddenly walking towards him. They both have a strange glow around them that let Hibari see them clearly.

Vongola Primo and his annoying Cloud Guardian walk side by side, holding hands and making their way towards and then past him. But they never spare him a glance, both busy talking in the soft whispers that Hibari couldn't hear.

.

And then Hibari is back and looking around his empty office from where he had been originally standing—in front of the School Disciplinary Committee's window, watching the students who were just arriving at the school—as if he hadn't just experienced some… illusion? Daydream? What had just happened?

Sighing angrily, Hibari releases his tonfas and let them fall with twin clanking sounds to the floor. The evidence that everything that had just happened to him was _somewhat_ real, was leaning against the window frame.

What did the old man named Alaude want from him—from Hibari Kyouya who had never cared about anyone else's business that had nothing to do with Hibari himself or his beloved Namimori?

Damn.

.

God is not fair. Tsuna knows that.

Life is not easy. Tsuna knows that too.

Reborn is a demon that wears human skin. Vongola Decimo knows all of this better than anyone else ever would.

If there are two things Tsuna can be proud of in himself, it would be his ability to understand other people and his way of thinking that could be considered sane if compared with his other… _friends_—because there is no more fitting word to call that group of strange and wonderful people.

But then…

Falling in love with Hibari Kyouya? Hah!

It would be better if Tsuna had only fallen in love with the raven-haired teenager's face—at least then, Tsuna would have more than enough reason to stop his feelings before they ran too deep—like the countless other people who had ever had any feelings for the Head Prefect. But Tsuna, he understands and knows all of Hibari Kyouya's characteristics, even long before he had more than feelings of just friendship for his _senpai_.

If people remember Tsuna's luck—_or the lack of it, to be precise—_there is nothing strange about Tsuna falling in love with all the characteristics—the good and the bad—that the so-called strongest Guardian possessed.

Slowly, Tsuna thought, maybe he was actually crazy and all of this—including the mafia, he hoped—was merely a part of his wild imagination.

But Reborn, ever so calmly, broke apart that theory ever since they had first met.

_**Oo~~**~~oO**_

Strong, strong, strong.

Sawada Tsunayoshi is strong.

Hibari noticed all of that slowly and step by step in the span of the last two years.

Sawada Tsunayoshi is strong… but also weak.

Not an herbivore, but… not a carnivore either.

Something unique in this monotonous world that drew Hibari to him—although not voluntarily.

No. Of course not. There was no way Hibari would ever want to be closer to someone voluntarily—closer and closer to the kid with the warm, honey-colored eyes.

The kid who feared, but also had a high regard of Hibari.

But Hibari didn't understand that kid at all. He was… too… unpredictable. Even more unpredictable than Hibari himself.

Something that was… new… Different from the other things that Hibari was still able to see…

If compared to Yamamoto Takeshi, who Hibari knew would only laugh faced with any kind of situation…

If compared to Gokudera Hayato, who would _explode_ in anger—no pun intended—even if he was only barely disturbed…

If compared to Sasagawa Ryouhei, who only knew how to solve problems with fists and meaningless screaming…

Sawada Tsunayoshi was something truly unique… a puzzle that Hibari had never been able to solve until now.

That gaze… that hesitant smile… that power… that clumsiness… that kindness…

And, although he knew all of that, Hibari was still _yet_ to understand exactly why he agreed to be under that kid's command and even gamble his life for him…

.

For Tsuna, everything began when Reborn appeared in his ordinary life.

If only Reborn hadn't made his way into his life, he would still be _Dame-Dame-no-Dame_-Tsuna. Would still be alone without a single friend. Still pining for Kyoko from afar.

He wouldn't have noticed that the perfectness of Namimori's Idol was something… boring.

Being continuously faced with unpredictable situations and an ever-changing life, whether he wanted to or not, Tsuna suddenly realized that the Kyoko who was so… _predictable_… and a reflection of the heroine who often appeared in the _shounen manga_ that Tsuna read, was something that he didn't seek.

No one knew since when Sawada Tsunayoshi realized that he liked Sasagawa Kyoko only for the sake of liking her alone.

For Tsuna, Kyoko is too perfect. Too kind. Too naïve—not that Tsuna had any right to call others naïve when Mukuro still insulted _his_ naïveté 24/7. But still… too boring…

They were a figure that would do more good if liked only from afar. The Idol who was much more attractive if admired with a distance that didn't require emotional closeness. A good friend—but only that.

And then Hibari Kyouya came into Tsuna's life.

Hibari Kyouya… the Head Prefect from the School Disciplinary Committee, someone who Tsuna knew to be Kyoko's perfect opposite.

Handsome then beautiful. Strong then gentle. A smirk then a soft smile. Dark and then light. Selfish and then selfless. Protecting then protected…

All of the feelings and comparisons started with only a glance from the Namimori de facto ruler.

And who knew since when the sharp bluish-silver eyes drew Tsuna's watchful gaze far stronger than Sasagawa Kyoko's soft eyes had ever been able to.

.

Herbivore.

Herbivore.

Herbivores everywhere.

Since he was a mere child, Hibari Kyouya was something 'extraordinary' himself, even within his family. Hibari Kyouya was far too strong for a normal human being and Hibari Kyouya didn't care about anything _normal_. Hibari Kyouya was _different_.

Different, if compared with the boring creatures he saw every day. The everyday human beings who were only able to blend together and tried to be similar with their own kind, with no bravery to be their own selves. Crowding. Grouping. Never capable of being _alone_.

Always the same.

Always copying each other.

Ha, Hibari always hated people like that. He had always hated the stupid people who wanted to have a _place_ among the crowd of the other stupid, worthless people.

They were weak animals. Weak animals that grouped together because they were similar and couldn't stand or become strong, alone.

The weak creatures… that were only able to move if they had a _similar_ group of supporters pushing them from behind.

Only able to function if they were sure that they wouldn't be cast aside and would never be alone.

Although, if there were more of those creatures who had even a bit of the bravery to be different—like Hibari—maybe the world wouldn't be _this_ boring.

Such a narrow world…

If people noticed even a _bit_ of change—that something had changed—panic and fear would, no doubt, spread. Just like how they feared Hibari.

Something out of the ordinary would only be classified as a crime. Something _different_ is considered taboo. Those that became _themselves_ would be feared and cast aside.

How idiotic.

But maybe, because of that… Hibari found _him_.

_Him._

Sawada Tsunayoshi.

Actually Hibari was not the only one who noticed that kid's presence. The baby-who-was-actually-an-adult Reborn, Sasagawa Ryouhei, Yamamoto Takeshi, Gokudera Hayato, Rokudo Mukuro, Dino Cavallone and countless other herbivores—including the perverted school's doctor Shamal, who had dared to inflict Hibari with the Sakura-Kura disease.

But they came long after Hibari had first noticed Sawada Tsunayoshi. They came _years_ after Hibari's gaze first found the little boy who always sat alone in a corner of the park with a red ball that was bigger than his head. The boy who was… certainly _different_ from other people. Different from the people who Hibari could easily guess how their minds worked. The boy who had already made Hibari curious for _years_. Whose mind was really quite simple but also incredibly unpredictable at the same time.

Certainly different from _them_, who had suddenly started crowding around that boy. Crowding around that boy… after Hibari had marked him.

Years after Hibari had begun to observe that boy.

The boy, who only from watching him—he didn't know why—made Hibari think of the twilight sky, the fresh air from the mountains—_Alpine_, Hibari noticed that the phantom-breeze he felt was the very same as the one from the Alpine Mountains his grandfather had taken him to when he was ten, on his journey to Italy—then the boy reminded him of the Venetian archipelago that he had already seen countless times on television and the sound of soft, melodious laugh that was buried deep within his memory…

Yes, Hibari had noticed that boy's presence since a very long time ago. Noticed the strangeness of the boy that he didn't understand.

Hibari ignored the strange voice—that spoke in a language he didn't understand until he started his study on Italian—in his head.

And through all of that, Hibari only started feeling truly attracted and approached that boy—_Dame-Dame-no-Dame-_Tsuna—after the baby hitman had come.

The Arcobaleno, Reborn awoke the power inside the boy, the very same power that Hibari maybe already knew was there but had chosen to ignore. The power that finally drew Hibari in was completely…

And is Hibari feeling only _that_? Or _more_ than that?

Hibari didn't know and didn't care.

The only thing that that carnivore knew and understood… was that he wanted to bite the not-herbivore-but-also-not-carnivore-although-certainly-not-omnivore to death.

Fight and fight.

_**Oo~~**~~oO**_

What Alaude said was right.

Hibari Kyouya was never looking in the right place.

_**Oo~~**~~oO**_

Giotto only wanted one thing.

For Decimo to not experience the same bitter pain like himself.

_**Oo~~**~~oO**_

"_We feel that our lives are a part of something bigger, a part of the dimension of time and nature that can't be separated. Fate. The past. Life continues to go on…"_

"… _Giotto, you sound somewhat like Daemon."_

"_Hahaha, G, you make it sound like something bad."_

"_But, Giotto. are you serious? Alaude?"_

"… _Yes. I feel like I've lived to find him. And he, for me."_

_._

Tsuna touched his head that felt so incredibly heavy with both his hands, groaning softly in pain. And through all of that, Reborn stood beside Tsuna's bed where his student lay, looking at the boy with a blank gaze—he didn't know what to do.

The gem on Tsuna's ring shone brightly.

And Reborn felt like he could hear someone crying from the ring.

.

_Walking together…_

_Their hands barely touching…_

_Without a word, walking side by side, watching the same thing._

_Maybe, because of that, the two people who stood side by side_—_with_ _barely touching shoulders_—_look closer than any other couple._

_._

Hibari Kyouya buried his head in his bed, trying to block out memory after memory that harshly assaulted his own… that assaulted his _mind_.

Those memories…

Not _his. Not his_.

Fon watched his distant cousin from outside the boy's room—he doesn't know at all how to help the younger member of his family.

The Chinese man's gaze is then drawn away from Hibari's body that trembled with pain, to the bracelet on the wrist of the Disciplinary Committee' Chairman that had begun to shine brightly.

.

"_Alaude."_

_._

Tsuna can see him.

He can see the Frenchman slowly turning his head towards Tsuna—_no, Giotto_—and smiling slightly.

Tsuna can feel something warm that was not his flowing from his chest and he can feel the happiness that was _not_ _his_…

He could feel Giotto's love for Alaude…

.

"_... Giotto..."_

_._

The man who looked a lot like Sawada Tsunayoshi smiled at where Hibari was standing.

But Hibari knew that the smile was not directed at him.

That smile is... _was_... for Alaude.

Alaude was the one who called for Vongola Primo. Not Hibari. The warm and happy feelings were Alaude's. Not Hibari's. The urge to smile at _that_ person was Alaude's too. …Wasn't it?

.

"_I will__ not tie you down. I will let you fly freely like a bird… Alaude… Such a bond… I don't need that kind of bond. I don't need your constant presence beside me, because I know… wherever you are… you will always protect me.__"_

_._

Tsuna began sobbing.

Since he had started having those strange dreams since a month ago, memory after memory of Primo had assaulted him. But usually, it wasn't like this… not _this_ bad. Usually, the memory came to him when he was sleeping… as if it were just another harmless dream. Maybe a _nightmare_—but most certainly not _dangerous_.

But… that made everything more painful…

Tsuna began doubting his feelings.

Are his feelings for Hibari, his own? Or Primo's, who loved Alaude… Alaude who looked so very much like Hibari?

Tsuna didn't know.

Didn't understand…

"Tsuna."

The Vongola Decimo can hear Reborn calling him with—is it possible?—slight panic in his voice. But the teenager can't reply to his tutor. Can't soothe the older man and tell him that Tsuna was okay. Because…

_Tsuna was not okay._

.

"_Giotto,__ you are like the sky who has given me a place to fly freely—unbound like the cloud itself. And like the cloud, I will always stay beside you, although you can't see me.__"_

_._

"Kyouya-_kun_! Kyouya-_kun_!" Fon screamed in panic, approaching the shaking dark-haired teenager who had suddenly begun laughing hysterically. "What's happening to you? Oh God, what happened… what's _happening_? Kyouya-kun, answer me!"

But Hibari didn't listen to what Fon was saying to him.

Hibari can't.

The pain and hysterical feeling is unbearable, because the memories that are being streamed into him continuously—_damn Alaude_—made the teenager who usually had a neutral expression on his face, laugh like a mad-man.

What the _hell_ is this?

Hibari really didn't understand.

Why had Alaude shown all this to him?

Why did it have to be him—Hibari Kyouya—and not some other person? Fon, for example.

Alaude's feelings for Giotto are unbearable. The feeling of longing and love that overflowed. Yearning to protect…

The guilt…

The anger for himself…

But all of those feelings are Alaude's—not Hibari Kyouya's… never his.

And Hibari began doubting it.

He _was_ Hibari Kyouya, wasn't he? He… he was _not_ Alaude, right?

But… but if that is true…

The feeling that drew him to Sawada Tsunayoshi… all of those barely there feelings that Hibari felt when he saw the sienna haired boy—_Venice, the Alpine Mountains, the far away laughter and the twilight sky_—what is the meaning of all of that?

All of this… was Alaude's…

Alaude's feeling, who saw Giotto inside of Sawada Tsunayoshi.

Then… where is Hibari's place in all of this?

.

"_Alaude. Ti amo."_

_._

"_Je t'aime, Primo."_

_._

Memory after memory…

Emotion after emotion…

Remembrance after remembrance…

But all of those things are not theirs…

_._

"_Forever__?"_

_._

But Tsuna knows… Tsuna knows that Giotto already knew…

Knew that Giotto and Alaude couldn't be together forever.

_._

"_Forever__."_

_._

Hibari knew that it was all a lie.

But Hibari also knew that Alaude gripped onto a tiny strand of hope within those lies.

_**Oo~~**~~oO**_

"I was dreaming."

That was what Tsuna told Reborn when the Sun Arcobaleno was finally able to calm Tsuna down. Reborn doesn't really believe his student, but then, Tsuna's gaze that was only focused at the sky outside his window made Reborn only capable of shaking his head in defeat and leaving Tsuna alone in his room.

The Vongola Decimo exhaled sharply when Reborn finally left his room and when he was a good distance away, Tsuna felt his tears flowing and he buried his face in both his palms.

"_Why?_" whispered Tsuna harshly, never looking up when the see-through figure of his ancestor appeared at the end of his bed and looked at Tsuna with a sharp—although not un-kind—gaze. "Why did you show all of that to me? Why are you making me feel all of your feelings for him—for Alaude? I don't want to know all of this… I don't want to doubt my own feelings for Hibari-san…"

Primo watched Tsuna without a word, his gaze that had at first been so sharp, softening when he continued to observe his descendant's defeated form. The golden-haired, sunset-eyed man opened his mouth slowly, as if wanting to say something. But as if something had suddenly stopped him, the man only shook his head and disappeared without a word, leaving Tsuna to cry alone.

_**Oo~~**~~oO**_

"Hibari-san, I like you."

Hibari looked at both his junior and also his boss with a blank gaze—he actually didn't have a clue that the reason Sawada Tsunayoshi approached him this afternoon was to confess.

For a few, brief seconds, Hibari can feel something warm enveloping his chest. But suddenly, Hibari's gaze blurs and everything began changing shape without warning.

Instead of the school rooftop, Hibari saw a hill. And in the place of where Sawada Tsunayoshi had been formerly standing, someone who looked so alike—but it was clear that he was _not_ the Vongola Decimo—was there instead and smiling warmly at Hibari—_No… Alaude_—and reached out with his hand.

"_Ti amo, Alaude..."_

And, everything returns back to normal.

Sawada Tsunayoshi still looked at him with a nervous gaze. His lithe body trembled, as if he was scared—something that was not strange if it were concerning Hibari Kyouya and Sawada Tsunayoshi. But the warm-honey colored eyes reflected something identical with his ancestor's cool sunset-colored eyes.

Hibari frowned and watched Tsunayoshi sharply. The Head Prefect knew—_thinks_—that the warm feeling that he harbored inside his heart was Alaude's. What Sawada Tsunayoshi had said was not for him. Never for Hibari.

All of that was for Alaude.

"… That… is that your own feeling… or something forced?" growled Hibari slowly, snorting softly when Tsuna flinched and looked away from the dark-haired teenager.

Walking to the door with bitter feelings, Hibari began cursing the First Cloud Guardian.

If only Alaude had not—

Forget it.

Hibari Kyouya knew the feeling of love and that to _be_ _loved_ and _to love_ would make him weak. The same with Alaude, who, until the end—although Hibari still don't know _yet_ what Alaude and Vongola Primo's ending _was_—loved Giotto.

But when he goes to pass by Sawada Tsunayoshi, Hibari can't help but question the sienna haired teenager who looked everywhere but at Hibari, "Your feelings… are they for me… or for someone else who you see inside me?"

"! Hi—"

Hibari closed the door behind him and walked away, Hibird who had previously been nestling calmly atop his head began flying around him.

"Yes," Hibari whispered to himself. "The one who you see, is it… Alaude or I?"

"Hibari?"

Smiling slightly at the little bird that was looking at him curiously, Hibari only shook his head. "At least _you_ know that I am not him, little one," murmured Hibari.

"… Sawada Tsunayoshi… is really troublesome…"

_**Oo~~**~~oO**_

Tsuna looked blankly at the closed door, freezing in a half-turning position.

"Hibari-san…" whispered Tsuna, falling down into a sitting position. "I… I don't know either…"

Punching the floor of the school roof-top with his tightly clenched fist, Tsuna bowed his head. "Hibari-san… I really don't understand… actually… actually—what's happening to me? To _us_?" whispered Tsuna, tears of frustration falling on his cheek. "I… I am… all of this… this pain… this overflowing feeling… mine… or Primo's? I am… _who_? Hibari-san…. Hibari-san… I… before I was sure that the one who loved you was _me_… but… why… why did I fall in love with you? With _you_? Or with _Alaude_? You… me… who are we actually? What… why… Hibari-san…"

Sobbing harshly, Tsuna pounded his fist to the floor again. Again and again, every hit becoming harder and harder until his hand began to bleed. But Tsuna didn't care.

Tsuna really didn't understand.

Tsuna thinks he is stupid… but… but…

He _is_ Sawada Tsunayoshi, right? He is… _not_ Vongola Primo or the reincarnation of the Vongola founder, right? They only… _look_ similar…

But… if it was only that… what did Vongola Primo mean when he shared all of his memories with Alaude to Tsuna? Then what did that mean for Tsuna's feeling for Hibari itself?

Was Primo saying that Hibari was Alaude? That his love for Hibari was merely the intermediary of Primo's _own_ love for _his_ Cloud Guardian?

Then… what was Tsuna here for? Isn't Tsuna… himself?

The entire time, wasn't Tsuna sure that his feelings were genuine and not someone forcing it?

… Tsuna is no longer sure…

And… for Hibari…

Is Tsuna, Tsuna or Giotto?

Slamming his hand to the school's roof-top concrete floor, Tsuna begins to scream.

.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

Hibari stopped in his tracks on his way to the stairs and looked back when he heard the screaming sound that was already muffled by the door and wall, but was still clear for him. Hibird, who had at first been perching on his shoulder, began flying again and chirping in slight panic, "Herbivore! Herbivore! Hurt! Hurt! Hibari! Herbivore! Kamikorosu!"

"Shhh," whispered Hibari, still looking at the closed door to the roof-top. "… That herbivore… is not our business."

And although Hibari felt something heavy in his stomach, he looked ahead and began walking away.

And then stopped abruptly again to look back with wide, surprised eyes.

"… There really is no way," Hibari murmured before beginning to walk away again.

He didn't know why… but he had a feeling that his name was whispered by Sawada Tsunayoshi.

_**Oo~~**~~oO**_

"Kyouya-kun. You like him."

Looking up from the report that he had been reading, Hibari glared angrily at Fon, who had suddenly come in and sat on one of his sofas. "What?" asked Hibari slowly, dangerously.

"Vongola Decimo," chirped Fon happily, helping himself to some tea. "Sawada Tsunayoshi-san. You, certainly and clearly, like him."

Sighing in annoyance, Hibari let the file that he had been trying to read go and ignored the papers that fell messily upon his desk. "And how… did you come to that kind of absurd conclusion?" asked Hibari, massaging his temple with closed eyes.

Fon smiled softly at his distant family member, the person that didn't realize the amount of attention that Hibari had been giving to Tsunayoshi—evenSasagawa Ryouhei and Lambo Bovino had begun noticing something under those sharp words and sadistic actions Hibari said and did to Tsuna. The look that they gave each other didn't escape Reborn's observations either, who in turn had told Fon… who was then trying to make the dark-haired teenager admit his own feelings.

For both of their sakes.

"This and that." says Fon with a Reborn-like mysterious smile plastered on his face, even when Hibari sent him the look that was able to make even a group of professional war-soldiers cry like babies.

Snorting softly, Hibari reached for Hibird who had been sleeping on his head. Placing the little bird on his desk, Hibari stood up and walked to Fon—who followed all of Hibari's movements with a slowly widening smile. "Kyouya-kun," Fon said softly. "If you tell me what you feel when you think, see when you are even just in the presence of Sawada-san, I will give you a Cloud Ring Level A+ that I heard you've been looking for."

Standing in front of Fon and looking down at the sitting, red-clothed man with suspicion clear in his bluish-silver eyes, Hibari crossed his arms in front of his chest. "And from where were _you_ able to get that kind of _rare_ ring, Arcobaleno Fon?" asked Hibari, curiosity hidden behind his sharp tone that sounded threatening, even to Fon.

The Chinese man only waved his hand dismissively. "Heirloom," says Fon. "From your side they bequeath the Rain and Mist Rings from level B+ to A+, correct? My side of family got the Cloud and Storm Rings. Of course, I don't need Cloud Rings—but you… you need it, no? So this is not a bad bargain."

Raising his eyebrow, Hibari nodded slowly and sat on the sofa furthest away from where Fon had been sitting the entire time. Nodding in satisfaction to himself, Fon began rummaging through his pants pocket before putting a ring with Vongola's symbol engraved on the inside on the coffee table that separated him and his cousin.

Eyebrows rose higher when he saw the Vongola symbol on the ring that was supposedly bequeathed from generation to generation of Hibari's family. The Disciplinary Committee's Head Prefect looked sharply at Fon. The Storm Arcobaleno raised both his hands in surrender. "I don't know, honestly. But that is the only ring that has the Vongola symbol on it. When I was still a mere child, I once saw one of the Mist Rings of the main family head have the same symbol. Of course, at that time, I didn't know that it was Vongola's symbol," says Fon.

"… I've never seen that ring… why don't I know it?" murmured Hibari.

"I don't know. You can ask one of the elder—but, that's not the point," says Fon. "You get the ring when you tell me what you feel."

Throwing another angry glare at Fon, Hibari began speaking with gritted teeth that showed his unwillingness to talk, but his desire to get his hands on the ring had won. "… Sawada Tsunayoshi… every time I see him, I feel like my gaze can't be moved away. That boy had drawn my attention to him because he was weak yet at the same time he is strong. The clumsiness, the naïveté, and his stupidity that knows no bounds make him the perfect target for bullying—" Here, Fon chuckled nervously. "—But his eyes are always looking at some faraway place. He reminds me of the Alpines… of the twilight sky… When I think of him… my chest feels really warm. He is… strange… different…"

"You certainly are in love with him," says Fon softly when Hibari stopped talking with a dazed expression on his face, as if he didn't believe what he had just said.

Hibari opened his mouth as if to protest, but then changed his mind and only shook his head, looking outside through the open window. "But…" the Vongola Cloud Guardian whispered softly. "All of this… for him… or for _him_...? My feelings… or _his_ feelings?"

"Kyouya-kun?"

"... Fon. I am… who? He is… which one?"

Fon looked at Hibari with confusion clear in his brown eyes, he didn't understand what the strongest Guardian was talking about.

_A shadow. Someone is looking down to see the laid ring closely. A soft laugh…_

Fon blinks—he… for a second his distant cousin's hair had gleamed a silver color. And that someone was looking down and reaching for the ring that he had put on the table.

What had that been?

.

.

_**Oo~~To be Continued~~oO**_

_**.**_

_**.**_

**A.N**: *rubs her hands while looking around nervously* Err… is it okay? *gulp* I hope it is okay… although the amount of grammar errors is unforgiveable… SOMEONE PLEASE BE MY BETA! *slam head to the nearest wall*

Is… is anyone wanting to know what's going to happen next? Is it too boring? *gulp* It has been a while since I updated or posted something new, right? Although it is not so-new, actually. Hahaha! The ones who have already read the Indonesian version must feel bored already. But I promise that I will post the next chapters soon—so, please wait for the lemon! :D

… Although college is burying me alive right now. Didn't know that being a Japanese Literature student meant this much of a burden… *roll on floor* I SHOULD CHOOSE FRENCH INSTEAD! Oh, no. Actually I love my course. It is easier than French and English, clearly. XD (This girl can't make up her mind)

And I meet lots of otaku… and some fujoshi and at least a fudanshi *hearts*. And fujoshi in denial number one, two, and three. XD And lots of fanservice. And some bishie to push their buttons and pair to another bishie. *cough* I will really love college life if not for the amount of quizzes that attack me since the second week… and the fact that English Literature course got more bishie (to be paired to another bishie) than Japanese Literature AND Educational Japanese Courses together…

Enough un-related rants from me… lastly, I want to say… DIE JAGER! DIE! DIE BERMUDA! DIE! DIE CHECKER-FACE! DX

And 182769' hints~ fufufufu~~~


	2. Memory

**Disclaimer**: Standard disclaimer applied Katekyo Hitman Reborn © Amano Akira.

**Warning****:** Mention of OCs, heterosexuality. Possibly able to give the reader headache.

**Beta Reader:** _**nightfayte**_ Thank you for taking your time to beta-read this

**Pairing**: Main 1827 and AlaGio—one-sided 6927, D27. Mentioned DaEle, AlaOC, GioOC.

**Summary****:** And they are not sure… are their feeling is theirs or Alaude and Giotto' feeling? Are they really loved and loving and not only become substitute or just vessel? Because of that, they are scared to walking together.

_**Oo~~**~~oO**_

_**DREAM, MEMORY, AND FEELING**_

_**Dai Ni wa:**_

_**MEMORI**_

_**Oo~~**~~oO**_

"_Didn't I already tell you, Decimo's Cloud Guardian? You are looking in the wrong direction."_Hibari didn't give any indication that he had heard nor acknowledged the Primo's Cloud Guardian when said man suddenly appeared and now stood beside his bed. Still looking at the open book in his lap, Hibari continued petting Hibird who was asleep on one of his pillows, ignoring Alaude completely. The Frenchman raised his eyebrow when he noticed his descendant's attempt to ignore him.

"… _How stubborn… this boy is…"_whispered Alaude, making the Asian boy turn sharply and glare at the blond.

Shaking his head slowly while sighing, Alaude closed his eyes and folded his hands in front of his chest. _"As someone whose body has my blood running inside you—not to mention with such strong physical resemblance, you really are far too alike my wife in the matter of personality."_ Alaude says slowly to himself—but, Hibari can't help but hear his musings too.

Hibari, if he was completely honest, couldn't be more surprised. What? Huh? Wasn't Alaude the lover of Vongola Primo? What did he mean when, indirectly, the man claimed to be Hibari's ancestor?

But, wasn't Sawada Tsunayoshi also a direct descendant of Vongola Primo? Then… what happened to them?

As if he could read Hibari's mind, Alaude—still with closed eyes—smiled slightly. _"Yes. Of course you wouldn't know… of course she wouldn't have told anyone… she really liked Primo. She would do almost anything for Primo, and the Vongola that she loved so much… too much__,__"___whispered the Frenchman. _"But… our past conflicts and problems were not something your generation need know. Not something that you have to think about. The problem here… is that you refuse what you clearly see. You are looking in the wrong place."_

Growling softly in anger, Hibari straightened in his sitting position and turning slightly to look directly at the platinum-blonde haired man, who had the guts to tilt his head slightly, as if in wonder. "What do you mean by that?" Hibari asked coldly, anger even clearer in his voice than if he had screamed his question.

"_What makes you hesitate, Hibari Kyouya? I only ask you to reunite me with he who is important—with Primo. With Giotto. Then why… why can't you accept your own feelings for the Decimo? Isn't that bound to hurt you?"_

Looking sharply at Alaude, Hibari closed the book that he had been reading before the annoying ghost—shadow, hallucination, soul… Hibari doesn't really care—appeared, harshly. "And whose fault do you think that is?" Hibari says calmly, but the strange glint in the boy's bluish-silver eyes can't hide the anger that boiled inside the dark-haired teenager.

"_H__n__?"_

Fist suddenly indenting the closet wall, Hibari looked at Alaude with a frown on his handsome face. Hibird, awakened because of the harsh pounding sound, began flying around the room while chirping angrily—mirroring the feelings of his owner. "Whose feeling… it is?" Hibari asks while gritting his teeth, trying hard to not lose his cool. "Mine… or yours? The one I look at… Sawada Tsunayoshi... or Vongola Primo? I am… Hibari Kyouya or Alaude? And he is… is he really Sawada Tsunayoshi? I… don't understand at all. A lot of people—too many people—say that we are your second comings. Your reincarnations… if that is true… soul, body, memory… all of this... are they mine or yours? I am… me. But this feeling… this love… is yours, right?"

Stunned, Alaude is only able to look at his heir, which for the first time, had talked so openly without anyone forcing him to do so. The pair of bluish-silver eyes finally open, looking straight into the almost-identical pair which belonged to Hibari Kyouya.

Sighing, Alaude—again—shook his head slowly._"...We... No... I, also do not understand. Are you my reincarnation or not… and whether your feelings are yours and yours alone and not influenced or even mine… I only know that we died a long time ago. That we are merely a shadow. The 'will' of our living past selves. No… we are not a wandering soul that you could call a ghost…more like… a projection… or memory… something that was left inside of the rings—of course now, no longer are we confined to the rings. But I have a 'will'. A desire. And one of them is… to be with him again. And you, Hibari Kyouya, is the only one who can help me. About your feelings for Decimo… I… also do not know. I am as clueless as you are."_

"... Damn..." whispers Hibari when Alaude disappeared once he finished saying what he wanted to day, not giving Hibari any chance to reply. "Damned herbivores…"

.

"_Decimo..."_

"... Enough..." whispers Tsunayoshi. "Enough… I… don't know anymore… never… can't... understand…"

The sienna-haired teenager is laying on his stomach, hiding his still wet because of his tears and his shaking hands which gripped his bed covers. Primo, suddenly appears—once again beside his descendant's bed—only able to watch his heir with blank eyes.

"_...__ We__... __love each other dearly.__"_Primo whispers softly,_"I apologize if that… makes you—makes us... everyone... confused. We only want to be together again. In our era… our feelings were considered taboo—of course now they still are, no? But, isn't everything better now? Ah… but that is not the problem. Even if we love each other… we can't show our feelings in public—especially because I was the leader of the infamous vigilante group—the group that is now called the mafia. Alaude… to cover our relationship, so no one would ver become suspicious and use our relationship as a weapon to attack us… Alaude married the only one he could call a friend—of course that woman was a part of Vongola, although not as strong as the Guardians. That woman was… Ugetsu's cousin. She… that woman… was the mother and grandmother of the people that would then sire a woman that gave birth to Hibari Kyouya—yes, Hibari Kyouya is Alaude's heir as much as you are mine. She is… was… a good woman, for me, at least. Not many people will judge her as 'good'__.__"_Primo paused a bit to smile slightly, as he recalled a private joke that he often shared with his Guardians and Elena about that woman. Tsunayoshi coughed lightly, indirectly asking Primo to continue. _"Ah… she—like Elena and Daemon—loved Vongola more than anything except her own family. Covering up our relationship also came from her wish to protect Vongola—she was a woman that could live without love. She was never one to care about things like that. At least, according to Daemon who understood and knew that woman more than anyone else. But, I know… Alaude loved her and she, Alaude. They loved and cared for each other although I also knew and understood that Alaude's feeling for her were never quite like his feelings for me, and nor was that woman's feeling for Alaude ever like her love for Vongola, her family, herself, __**me**__, Daemon and Elena. _

"_They were like siblings—yes maybe that was why… that was why she said she was happy as long as we were happy. That was why she said that she promised to protect our relationship. And we were happy. But then… there came a time when even I was forced to marry—sometime after our beloved Elena's death. That woman that I married for my Family… for Vongola... was the one who separated me completely from Alaude. We were separated… because that woman killed Alaude. Killed Alaude right when his wife was pregnant with their first and only son… killed Alaude because she knew that I love him more than I will her—if I ever loved her. We were separated… but we still love each other. I love Alaude. More than I ever love anyone—even my own child who came years after that, as selfish and egoistical as that sounds—even if death really did tear us apart… even if we can't be together. Then, I went to Japan along with Ugetsu and his cousin—soon after the woman I once married killed by the hand of Alaude's wife as revenge because she stole her son's father… her friend and husband… my lover's life. Everything was only a matter of coincidence that all happened along the time Daemon went berserk—that woman also left because she couldn't choose between Daemon—who is her other half—and me… and I can never blame Daemon. It was also MY own fault Elena had to die… if only I had listened to Daemon back then… _

_Decimo, I love Alaude and even if fate makes it impossible for us to be together… I still love him—and I know he also loves me. I… don't want what happened to us—a history full of blood, betrayal, tears, and despair—to also happen to you and Hibari Kyouya. Because… you… you are in love with each other, right?"_

Tsuna tilts his head slightly so he can look at Giotto, who returns his look with a gentle shine in his twilight-sky-colored eyes. Snorting angrily, Tsuna wiped the tears from his face roughly. "I don't know why you told me all of that… I don't know why it had to be me and why I have to know," Tsuna says slowly. Oh, Tsuna is perfectly fine not knowing the hardship of Vongola Primo's life and how many people had to die for Vongola to be like this. If Tsuna didn't know… then he doesn't have to feel like this. Feel like he is going to throw away the sacrifices of all those people—nameless and faceless but important and once lived—had made. And to shake away the feeling that he had done something bad… that Giotto had also done something bad, he decided to say more. "I… feel sorry for you guys—" and that was the truth. "But I also think that marrying another person to cover up your relationship was something cruel. Something that someone like Mukuro or Reborn would think of." He wouldn't do a thing like that to Kyoko-chan or Haru if he was faced with that kind of choice.

Of course, he also doesn't know what kind of woman Alaude was married to. But maybe… if she was like Hibari-san… then Daemon's comment that she was able to live without love was not something impossible either. And by the look of pure amusement on Primo's face, Tsuna had a feeling that said woman was a strange mix of his own Cloud and Mist Guardian in the matter of personality. (And Tsuna wouldn't ever dare tell Hibari-san and Mukuro that deep, deep inside his mind, he thinks that the only reason Mukuro and Hibari-san can't get along is because they are too alike.)

"_Ah,__ but that was not our idea,"_said Primo, a gentle smile gracing his handsome face. _"That idea come from the woman herself—we were all, especially Daemon, against the idea at first—but that woman's justice only included the happiness of her important people and of course herself." _

"... I don't care," Tsunayoshi says softly, sadly. "I know… this will sound cruel… but… please understand. I… Hibari-san… I don't know whose feeling I feel now. Are these... my own feelings… or your feelings, that see Alaude inside of Hibari-san? And even if… even if… these are really my feelings… I will still feel doubt… are Hibari-san's feelings, his own or Alaude's? Primo… you must know already… that we are… the tenth generation, often called your generation's reincarnation, right? … I-is that true? Is Hibari-san… Alaude and I… you? But… if that is true… how can you still be here?"

The smile that once graced Giotto's face had slowly disappeared, and was replaced with a blank look that strangely, showed more emotions than any other expression Giotto had previously shown Tsuna before. Shaking his head and burying his right hand in his pants' pocket to slowly trace the golden pocket watch that he always carried even after death, the blond Italian sighing sadly._. "... I... we also don't know. Talbot… even he doesn't fully understand how the rings he make works. Maybe only Checker face understands. But the rings… which have now transformed, will preserve__ time…__ memories… hopes… dreams… feelings… wills… parts of the bearer's souls… and power… but, I don't know any more beyond that. About whether or not you are my reincarnation… I also do not know. The world of death is far more complex than the living will ever imagine—even the dead like me don't understand. But, it is true that out here, live some people who understand reincarnation more than others. If you can find people like that… But then, there is another problem I keeps crossing my mind… if you guys are really our reincarnations… how about Daemon and Mukuro? Daemon… whose soul was only recently able to move on from the living world? I… really don't understand. About your feelings too… I know that my own and my memories affect you somehow—how much, I don't know. But… but… that is only something that… ah…"_

Tsuna began sobbing again without realizing it and hid his face in his pillow again. "... I... don't want to hear it anymore… I… I am… Sawada Tsunayoshi… Sawada Tsunayoshi... Sawada... Tsu—"

_**Oo~~**~~oO**_

Only able to look…

They are only able to look at one another.

_[White...]_

For whom...?

Their feelings… did they have any meaning?

Or perhaps they were only a bridge for others'?

They are not sure…

They… are not brave enough to face the reality.

Wouldn't it be better for them to never come close and to only watch the other from far away, than if they happen to walk side by side and find a reality that they do not want?

But then...

_[Silence... blood red...]_

_[The sound of crying...]_

But then...

They don't know how or why, but their feelings are growing.

Like.

Like.

Like.

... Love...?

Enough. Enough already.

All of this… is enough…

It is already time to wake up. Time to walk away.

It is already time to stop watching.

Time to walk ahead…

... Even if they want to walk together...

But... where has the bravery gone? The bravery that they had always shown when battling. When facing the prospect of losing their own lives.

Yes… although it is lonely…

Although it hurts...

It is time to let go of their feelings…

Time to start from the beginning once more….

.

"Hibari-san... Sayonara..."

.

"... Sawada Tsunayoshi. Good bye."

.

"_My beloved Alaude… will things have to end like this…again?__"_

_._

"_... Will we really be unable to be together again... Giotto?"_

_._

"Kufufufu~ how stupid..."

_**Oo~~**~~oO**_

Rokudo Mukuro smirked evilly as he looked down from where he stood—Nami-chuu's rooftop. The annoying birdie and his stupid target… two people that made Mukuro want to vomit.

Around people who were alive, only Mukuro understood death and life's circulation. Only Mukuro was able to look at the sign of lives that were forgotten.

Mukuro and Daemon. But Daemon was already dead, of course, and so not included. Even though sometimes the part of Daemon's soul and will that resided in Mukuro's Vongola Gear sometimes appeared in the Italian's teenager dreams, since a few months ago.

But of course, the important fact was that Mukuro knew more than the two people that were trapped inside of their own fear. (And Mukuro knew that the birdie wouldn't acknowledge it as fear. Damn, arrogant carnivore.)

Oh, of course Mukuro knew of their problem. Mukuro—one could say—monitored Sawada Tsunayoshi closely. The bond that was accidentally connected when the Decimo and ex-criminal first fought was a two way connection, as far as Mukuro could see.

Laughing sadistically, Mukuro looked away from Hibari Kyouya and Sawada Tsunayoshi's backs, who walked away from Namimori using two different roads. "Kufufufu~ if only they asked me, I would answer their doubt." mumbles Mukuro softly, evil smile still plastered on the handsome face of the teenager that had already been through six hells.

"Oya oya, too bad they won't ask~" Mukuro says with a sad tone—although his eyes shine with glee. He alowly disappeared inside the mist that he had called forth and his smile broadened—right before he disappeared completely—because he could see that the roads the two were walking on were meant to cross at one point or another. "Kufufu, of course, it will be an interesting watch~"

_**Oo~~**~~oO**_

The tears that can't be stopped.

Flowing without his notice and not able to be stopped.

Crying and crying...

Tsuna doesn't understand why he is crying. Didn't he already decide to let go of whatever feelings he had for Hibari Kyouya? Didn't he understand that his feelings might be Primo's? Didn't he know that what he felt was nothing but a lie?

...Lie?

...False?

A... bridge?

Tsuna really doesn't understand.

He cannot understand at all.

But the tears that continue to flow… what do they mean? The pain as if something was grabbing his heart and refused to let go… whose he wondered?

Slowly Tsuna began to doubt himself. Doubt his own existence.

He wants to believe, wants to be certain… that he is Sawada Tsunayoshi and only Sawada Tsunayoshi. He is dame-dame-dame-no-dame-Tsuna and the unwilling successor of Vongola. He is not Primo.

"Little bro?"

Startled, his sobs stop for a while and when Tsuna looks up to see who had come inside his room without permission, he cannot see. His tears blur his gaze, but, he can't not know who is that from the tall figure and how that person walked toward him clumsily. "Dino-san…" sobs Tsuna, standing suddenly and running to his aniki-bun. "Dino-san…"

"Whoa! Tsuna?!" Dino exclaims in panic with a confused face at Tsuna's antics.

But, when Tsuna can only shake his head and tighten his hug, then hide his face in Dino's chest—successfully wetting Dino's shirt while doing so—the Italian young man only hugs Tsuna back with a worried expression. "Tsuna." whispers Dino to the sienna hair the Vongola Decimo owned, feeling that if he kept calling Tsuna's name, the younger boy would begin to calm down. "Tsuna. Tsuna. Tsuna."

Tears falling even faster, Tsuna hugs Dino even tighter, until the clumsy blond man topples backwards with Tsuna still in his arms. "Ow, Tsuna?" mumbles Dino, looking down at his self-proclaimed little brother's condition.

"Dino -san..." Tsuna said between his sobs. "Dino-san... I... I am... Sawada Tsunayoshi..."

Eyes wide with confusion, Dino moves slightly to place his chin on top of Tsuna's head. "Yes," whispers Dino, somehow understanding that Tsuna needed clarification from Dino. "Tsuna. Tsuna. You are Tsuna. Sawada Tsunayoshi…"

"I am the _Dame-Dame-Dame-no-Dame-Tsuna_ who trips over his own feet. Who can't do sport. Who often got zero for exams. Who can't do anything right…"

"Hahaha, that's you, Tsuna."

"... Right? That's me, right? I... I... I am not... _Vongola Primo_, right?"

Tightening his own hug, Dino looking at the ceiling with surprise clear on his clear brown eyes. Tightening his own hug, Dino looks at the ceiling with surprise clear in his clear, brown eyes. "… Of course not, Tsuna!" says Dino, panicking and grabbing Tsuna's shirt, as if, if he let the younger boy's trembling body go even just slightly, the sienna haired teenager would disappeared. "Of _course_ not, otouto! You are… you are…"

"But even he doesn't know!" Tsuna cries in despair, looking up so he is able to lock eyes with Dino's. "_Vongola Primo_ himself doesn't know… I… I… then these feelings… they are mine, right? Mine, right, Dino-san? Not his? And… Hibari-san… what are his feelings for me? Are they his… or Alaude's… or… or… does he not have any feelings for me? I… I… really… hate all of this. Dino-san… Dino-san… I am really me… right?"

Ignoring the unease in his chest and his confusion, Dino moves one of his hands to pat Tsuna's head with care. "Of course, Tsuna. Of course. You are… my cutest little brother. The one_ I love the most_. You are not Vongola Primo," Dino says slowly, love and care clearly reflected in his smooth voice. "Don't worry, big brother will always be by your side… don't worry anymore…"

"... Is that so?" whispers Tsuna back. "Good... If so… good... Dino-san... Dino-san will always be by Sawada Tsunayoshi's side... Dino-san... will never leave me... Dino-san... understands that I am..."

"You are Tsuna," whispers Dino again. "My important Sawada Tsunayoshi…"

"Yes... yes... true... If Dino-san is the one who says it… it must be the truth..."

Silently, Dino continues to caress Tsuna's hair. "Dino-san..."

"Hmmm?"

"... If so... then why... Why won't my tears stop?"

"Tsu-Tsuna...?"

"... –bari-san..."

"..."

_**Oo~~**~~oO**_

_Yes… who are you calling?_

_Who do you call…?_

_Who do you look at…_

_Who are you watching?_

_In the end… will you walk away?_

_Will give up everything and... disappear?_

_Leave… everything?_

_Walk away and… slowly… further and further away…_

_Who actually… what actually…_

_I don't understand…_

_Sawada Tsunayoshi..._

_If you are looking at me… and only me…_

_Not only as a reflection of the First Cloud Guardian…_

_I… I…_

_Am I… in love with you… too?_

_**Too**__?_

_Ah, that is true… am I… really in love with him? What… didn't this feeling belong to that person and for the one who looked like Sawada Tsunayoshi…?_

_Sawada Tsunayoshi... or Giotto?_

_Hibari Kyouya... or Alaude?_

.

"What do you want?" said Hibari, not looking up from the damage report he is reading. "Leave."

Dino—for the first time, without his subordinates around—walked up to Hibari with confidence, leaving Romario outside. "No," says Dino seriously, making Hibari look away from the numbers that were printed on the paper which he held and looking at Dino with surprise.

What was it with those herbivores and making Hibari Kyouya surprised, lately?

"Only," Dino says quickly before Hibari can tell him to leave again. "Only after you clarify your feeling to Tsuna, Kyouya."

"... Ha?"

And what was with those plant-eater's and their habits in including themselves in Hibari's and… Sawada Tsunayoshi's problem? Was what Fon said true? That they… looked like they were in love with each other?

… Weren't those _not their feelings_?

Dino, who had not noticed the strange expression on Hibari's face, continued with confidence. "I… am fond of him," said Dino. "Tsuna… is a brother that is important to me. Who… I don't know since when… but has definitely become someone I have grown to love. He is someone who deserves a truthful love. Get him, or let him go, Kyouya. Get him if you love him… as long as you two can be happy. Let him go if you don't want to make him happy, so I can do just that. Just… make him happy is my goal, Kyouya."

Hibari looking wide-eyed at his—unwilling, but still—teacher whose easy-going self usually rivaled that of Yamamoto Takeshi. Looking at the blond haired young man who, for the first time looked back at Hibari with seriousness that rarely appeared in the gentle eyes of Dino Cavallone. "… Why?" asks Hibari finally, letting go of the mechanical pencil that he had been using to mark the reports that he had to finish soon.

Dino smiles slightly, staring at Hibari with the gentleness of a big brother who explained to his younger brother things that said little brother didn't understand. "Because, Kyouya, I am your teacher and Tsuna's brother. I only wish happiness for the two of you. Seeing my little brother sad and crying… hurts me. Looking at you who pushes another person away and is alone pains me."

"_Hane-Uma_."

"... Yes?"

"Told me," said Hibari, standing up and looking at Dino sharply, tonfa appeared on his hands. "Do you... love him? Love... Sawada Tsunayoshi?"

Dino's smile did not disappear, it even grew bigger. Closing his eyes and putting his right hand in front of his chest, Dino says, "Yes. So much. But… because I love him with all my heart… more than owning him… I want him to be happy. And I know, the only one he will be happy with, is you. Kyouya… you too… love him, I mean. I can see it… Kyouya, don't hurt him…"

Oo~~**~~oO

Hibari sat down right after Dino closed the door. Sighing tiredly, Hibari covered his eyes with his right arm.

Tired.

Hibari was really exhausted.

Maybe not physically… but what happened since two months ago was finally starting to show its effect on Namimori's overlord. Mentally… he was not strong enough to bear all the problems that were given to him—that were chasing him—until finally, he felt the unbearable tiredness. An unthinkable tiredness.

Too tired to think about anything…

Too tired to care anymore…

Hibari Kyouya really doesn't understand…

So, if what Dino Cavallone said was really true…

If only… if only…

_No._

Hibari Kyouya couldn't raise his hope. That one and only wish—

What he wished for was something he shouldn't have. Hibari Kyouya is a carnivore. Carnivores don't need those weak feelings of wanting to be loved and loving another.

But… Sawada Tsunayoshi's eyes…

No…

No…

Was it really Primo's eyes he had been looking at...? That he wished to see?

… Hibari doesn't like it. Hate. Hate. He hates it.

He felt like he was used.

What? Why? Who?

What was the meaning of his life if that was really true?

_Was he… __Alaude __or__ Hibari Kyouya?_

...

...

No. Hibari has to be sure. Has to believe.

_He must_.

Because if he isn't Hibari Kyouya… then… he was… no one.

_Nothing but a mere vessel for Alaude and that was not something that Hibari wanted._

_**Oo~~**~~oO**_

_If Alaude thinks back… maybe all of this was really his fault._

_Alaude really never had any doubts before that Hibari was someone even more stubborn and prideful than Alaude himself. Although he never really thought that a boy like Hibari would ever exist._

_If Alaude looked at him briefly, Hibari is one of the special humans. Gifted. Briefly, he looked almost perfect, maybe. But he needed a lot of polish._

_And the Decimo, who Alaude saw and observed from behind Hibari Kyouya's eyes — the eyes that always, always saw and followed Sawada Tsunayoshi… that boy, was truly worthy of being called Giotto's reincarnation._

_But… really?_

_Sawada Tsunayoshi… maybe they looked alike, but he was also quite different from Giotto. The similar face… the same smile… similar laugh… similar kindness… the same power…_

_But there was something inside of that told him what he wanted wasn't Sawada Tsunayoshi. That only Giotto… it was only Giotto that he ever wanted._

_Then why did he—no… not Alaude… but Hibari Kyouya._

_Why is it that Hibari Kyouya's gaze always fell on that boy?_

_Was it possible? Had it truly happened? How so?_

_Alaude has waited for far too long._

_Much, much too long…_

_What Alaude wants… what Alaude would always wait for… _

_The possibility of being together with Giotto…_

_But…_

_But…_

_This body is Hibari Kyouya's to own. Hibari Kyouya, who was a separate existence, who had his own thoughts… thoughts that were completely separated from Alaude's._

_Then… was it really possible that Alaude was Hibari Kyouya and Hibari Kyouya was Alaude?_

…_At time like this, Alaude really wished that Daemon, Elena, or that woman who studied about reincarnation was around._

_Ah. Wait…_

_That woman… Alaude could only briefly remember…_

_What did her face look like? What did her laugh sound like?_

… _What was her name?_

_Alaude has already forgotten it…_

_Alaude can only remember… that somehow, he knew that Hibari Kyouya's personality was far too alike with that woman—more than with Alaude himself. He was only able to remember that that woman was also someone important, someone he was indebted to…_

_He has really forgotten… truly forgotten how that woman really was. Forgot what that woman looks like._

_The Frenchman is only able to remember black hair and expensive kimono made from silk which that woman often wore, although Giotto had already prepared for her those Western gowns which were as expensive as her kimono. The more he tries to remember… he is only meet with darkness. Empty. Blank._

_That's true… Alaude really wants to be together with Giotto again. For Alaude himself. For Giotto… and for that woman who promised to help them be together. The woman who was pregnant with Alaude's child in exchange for protecting the Vongola and Hibari family as long as Alaude alive—something that Alaude was never really able to pay back because he had left first. Everything she had given so Alaude could make Giotto, the important person that they both loved, happy…Yes. Yes._

_That was true._

_Alaude has to meet once again with Giotto. Once more tell Giotto how he loves him. Once again, to be together…_

_And he will never let Giotto go again…_

_Then what about Hibari Kyouya? And what about Sawada Tsunayoshi?_

… _Alaude… really doesn't understand…_

.

"… Again," growls Hibari without looking away from his room's window, continuing to watch the night sky which is covered with black clouds.

Alaude only stays silent, looking at his own great-grandson that the first Cloud Guardian admitted looked much too similar to him, although the black hair, pale skin, and the not-too-tall body were clearly not something he inherited from Alaude.

What had Alaude been thinking, anyway? How many generations had passed since Alaude's own child had been born?

Alaude never saw his child… never knew if he had a son or a daughter. Did that child have Alaude's hair or the mother's?

That was one of Alaude's regrets… to never know his own child. The child that Alaude—and not to mention Giotto—really and truly wanted.

But, at least—he doesn't know how—Alaude knows that Giotto also had a role in raising his child, the child that he himself doesn't know the name of. Loving that child like Giotto would've loved his own… maybe that child even grew up together with Giotto's…

And Alaude… was happy that at least, that child could grow up and have their own children. Hibari Kyouya was irrefutable proof. And naturally… Alaude was also able to identify that stubborn teenager who gazed at the sky outside his window as his own.

Alaude also hoped that the boy that always stood so far away from other people could be happy. For this boy who hated crowds to be able to have someone to come back to. For the boy who was always alone to have someone to lean on.

Because… even if this boy was not Alaude… even though this boy is Hibari Kyouya and only Hibari Kyouya… the black haired boy always reminded Alaude too much of himself, before he met Giotto.

"_If you are really not me,"_ Alaude said slowly. _"At least confess that you… truly love him."_

Hibari didn't turn away. He didn't say a thing.

The Disciplinary Committee's Head Prefect only looked coldly to the sky outside his window.

Only to the sky that started to cry.

That night, Namimori was drenched with the rain that fell all night long.

_**Oo~~**~~oO**_

Tsuna didn't cry.

He was not going to cry again.

Refused to cry over Hibari Kyouya again.

He will not… feel doubt anymore.

Hugging himself tightly, as if trying to protect that small body from the cold night, Tsuna looked up to stare at the cloud covered sky. Looking at the sky—or more accurately, the clouds—from which drops of rain began to fall, making the night even colder than the usual autumn night.

"Tsu-kun! Come inside and close the door. Dinner is ready!"

Hearing his mother's voice, Tsuna came inside and closed the door in silence. "Tsuna!" Lambo screamed happily, jumping up and hugging Tsuna's leg like a koala.

Smiling softly, the Nami-chuu student walked to the dining room, dragging Lambo who was laughing happily. "Tsuna-nii!" Fuuta smiled from where he sat. "Today is Tsuna-nii's favorite!"

"Ah, really?" said Tsuna, smiling brightly at his mom. "Thank you, kaa-san!"

Laughing gently, Nana only shook her head and waved her hand, motioning for Tsuna to sit. Reborn, already in his pajamas, leant the beside coffee maker, staring at Tsuna who engaged Bianchi in a talk about Gokudera, noticed that the smile Tsuna wore was not an honest smile. Noticed that the happy façade was something forced.

_Tsuna… what in the world had happened?_

"Cavallone left this afternoon, right?" said Bianchi suddenly. "He didn't tell you?"

"EH?" Tsuna spluttered. "Really? Oh god…"

"If you have something to tell him, how about you call him tomorrow night, Tsu-kun?" suggested Nana, give another bowl of rice to Lambo.

.

"_Sorry__."_

Through the mirror in the bathroom, Tsuna and Primo stared at one another. "I'm sorry."

Shaking his head angrily, Tsuna turned to leave.

"_I am sorry for my selfishness, Decimo. Sorry. So sorry.__"_

_._

_G often called Giotto selfish and egoistic._

_Cozart defended Giotto by saying that Giotto's selfishness was a good one._

_Daemon said… that Giotto only cared about his own principles… without… caring about how his subordinate's lives were at stake. He thought… of Elena. Elena who was important… whose smile was a light for the Vongola…_

_Giotto had to face that his selfishness was one of the reasons that Elena died that night._

_Giotto… only wants for Vongola to return to its original goal. To come back to the real reason Vongola was founded. Family… yes. The family that Giotto had formed from the very foundations was not a war tool._

_No… not mafia. Not criminals like how those police thought. Mafia—or whatever names the police had labeled them…_

_Vongola… their only goal was to protect the weak. Elena agreed… but, because of that… Elena had died… right?_

_Giotto already knew. Already knew. Already understood._

_He was egoistic. Selfish. Because of that, a lot of people were hurt. A lot of people were killed…_

_His selfishness killed Elena. His selfishness broke Daemon. Because he is selfish and wants an end without fighting and bloodshed—Alaude was killed. His selfishness and fear, and also his sadness made him burden Ricardo with taking care of the already broken Vongola when he himself ran away to Japan._

_His selfishness had made Sawada Tsunayoshi suffer so many things since that boy was named as his successor._

_And his selfishness had almost made Sawada Tsunayoshi lose his identity._

_Giotto..._

_But Giotto only wants… only wants to meet Alaude again. Only wants… to apologize. Only wants to be together once more._

_Giotto had already waited for such a long time. He continued to slumber inside of the ring of his successors, from generation to generation._

_Waiting to be awoken._

_Waiting so that he could meet with Alaude, once more._

_The golden haired male already knew that he was very selfish._

_He only wants to meet Alaude. Only Alaude._

_But… he hasn't forgotten about his beloved G. Could never forget about his kind Ugetsu. Can't forget about his most spoiled Lampo. Will not forget about Knuckle whom he looked up to. And will forever remember his poor Daemon._

_Daemon… whose anguish Giotto regretted as much as the Vongola founder regretted Alaude's death._

_Giotto really doesn't understand._

_Really doesn't know._

_Giotto knows clearly that he is Giotto. But… 'what' is Giotto?_

_Sawada Tsunayoshi—Decimo—had already revealed to Giotto something that he himself had never paid any attention to before. Brought up a problem that had never once graced Giotto's mind—because Giotto think and believes that he was supposed to be like this._

_Pieces of memories… pieces of soul… will… a part of Dying Will Flame…_

_Then… who is Sawada Tsunayoshi?_

_His reincarnation?_

_A descendant who looked similar to him?_

_Giotto doesn't know._

_Then… how can Giotto find Alaude?_

_Giotto doesn't know._

_Giotto only knows that Sawada Tsunayoshi and Hibari Kyouya are the key for him to be able to be together with Alaude. His Hyper Intuition was only able to bring him this far._

_Was Hibari Kyouya, Alaude?_

_I don't know—that is Giotto's answer._

_The Vongola Primo only knows that he able to feel Alaude's presence. The similarity between Alaude and Hibari Kyouya were glaringly obvious._

_But, to clearly announce that Hibari Kyouya is Alaude?_

_No._

_Giotto cannot do that._

_Indeed, Giotto can see Alaude in Hibari Kyouya. But not everything._

_Black hair, pale-white skin—it really differed from Alaude's lightly tanned skin—small and lean body…_

_All of that was not Alaude._

_His gaze… the way he speaks… the way he fights…_

_All of that was Alaude, yet more._

_If only Daemon, Elena, or that woman were here…_

_Or even Knuckle or Talbot._

_One of them would be able to explain to him about all this madness._

… _But…_

_But…_

_Giotto… he…_

_Giotto only wants…_

_No._

_No._

_Giotto only wants, no matter what happens, for Sawada Tsunayoshi and Hibari Kyouya to be able to be together. No matter what happens._

_Because those two—reincarnation or not—reminds Giotto too much of himself and Alaude of the past._

_Even though… maybe because of Giotto… those two were so far bound to the worst case scenario. A case more unclear and more… hurtful than Giotto's and Alaude's._

_At least, Alaude and Giotto can love each other without having to doubt anything._

… _Giotto begins blaming himself again…_

_**Oo~**~~oO**_

"Happy birthday, Tsuna!" cries Iemitsu happily that morning, pushing a little box at Tsuna who was still half asleep and looking at his suddenly-home father with a confused look on his face.

"Ha?"

"Eh? Tsuna-nii forgot?" Fuuta, who had been listening from the next room, walked in while carrying I-Pin and Lambo. "This is the fourteenth!"

"… HA!?"

"Ck, ck, typical. Dame-Tsuna is still Dame Tsuna. Forgetting his own birthday." says Reborn, shaking his head with fake sadness from beside Bianchi, who was making a cup of coffee for the black-haired Arcobaleno.

Throwing an annoyed glance at Reborn, Tsuna sat beside Iemitsu and took the little box from his father's hand. "Thank you, tou-san. What is this?" asked Tsuna, a little wary.

Laughing hard, Iemitsu only patted his son's back. "Open. Open it!" smiles Iemitsu. "That was a present from Nono _and_ Xanxus. But don't tell them that I said that last part, okay! You guys too! Xanxus will kill me if he knew I told you guys! Anyway, mine and Nana's present is still upstairs. You can open it later with the others. But… Nono and Xanxus really pushed me to give it to you first thing in the morning. They said that you might need it."

Smiling at Nana who beamed at him, Tsuna nodded. "Even Xanxus…" mumbles Tsuna while opening the box.

"EH?" Tsuna suddenly cries put, surprising even Reborn who was sipping his coffee and Nana who was making a late breakfast on that lazy Sunday morning.

"Dame-Tsuna!" growled Reborn, glaring angrily at his pupil who stared at the inside of the box with awe, surprise and confusion all at the same time. "What did you got?"

"A s-sky ring!" exclaims Tsuna, bringing out the ring that had a very elegant look and examining it closely. "Is it really the Sky Ring? Reborn said once that this kind of ring was really rare, right… Reborn? And… is this ring A+ level? And the Vongola's family crest is here… Talbot's?"

"Yup," says Iemitsu happily. "And as history says, this is the same ring that Talbot made for Primo, after the original Vongola Ring back then. We can't really be sure though, although Talbot did say so—along with some of the other rings that are being protected elsewhere or some that were lost… but before, Xanxus was the one who used it. This ring doesn't need a blood connection to use. And Xanxus said that he didn't need it anymore because he already had the Varia Ring that Talbot made according to Xanxus's own Dying Will Flame. Nono and Xanxus were discussing about giving it to you, saying that you need it more than anyone else."

"Th-thank you!" says Tsuna happily. "I… I will call Nono and Xanxus later…"

"EHHH?" Iemitsu exclaims. "Tsuna, daddy already said no telling Xanxus that you know—"

Laughing at his father's antics, Tsuna only nodded and slipped the ring on his right index finger. "Fufu, Tsu-kun is now really influenced by Gokudera-kun's style." chuckles Nana while putting a bowl of rice in front of Tsuna, who laughed nervously.

.

"_Juudaimeeeeeeeeeeee_!_Buon compleanno_!" Screamed Gokudera, bowing lowto Tsuna while pushing a big box into Tsuna's hands.

"A-ahahaha… thank you, Gokudera-kun," says Tsuna, sweat dropping when Gokudera beamed at him. "Lift your head… we are attracting unwanted attention.

"Yes, Juudaime!"

"Yo, Tsuna, Gokudera! Good morning!" Yamamoto greeted them happily, running a little so he could catch up with Tsuna. "Oh! Happy Birthday, Tsuna! Sorry, my present is still on home—I didn't know we would meet, hahaha! This evening, at your party, I will give it to you! Hahaha!"

"U-uh… good morning, Yamamoto," replied Tsuna, smiling at his ever-cheerful friend while Gokudera looked away angrily while muttering curses under his breath to Yamamoto, who had disturbed his important time with Juudaime. "Thank you—but you don't need to."

Laughing happily, Yamamoto only shakes his head and hugs Tsuna's neck. "Maa maa, Tsuna! Don't be like that! We're friends, no?" said Yamamoto happily, half dragging Tsuna with him.

"VOI! What the fuck are you doing to Juudaime, Yakyuu-baka!"

"Whoa! Why Squalo's?" asks Yamamoto innocently, looking at Gokudera whose face was quickly reddening when he realised he had accidentally using the catchphrase of the Varia's Rain Guardian.

"S-shut up! Voi is not only that long haired bastard's, idiot!" snarls Gokudera. "In Italian, it also means 'you', stupid baseball freak! Reborn-san already told you to study, right!?"

"Hahaha! Really?"

.

They don't notice the sharp gaze of a dark figure who watched them from afar.

.

"Speaking of Italian," Tsuna suddenly says, breaking the one-sided argument of his Strom and Rain Guardian. "Have you already heard? Nono said that I have to go to Italy to study it… and to study a few other things under Xanxus and Coyote-san. Also for some of the problems Nono wishes to be entrusted to me."

"Yup!" Yamamoto nodding. "It will be lonely without Tsuna!"

"Yes, Juudaime," Gokudera nodded with vigor. "But I wonder… for how long?"

Laughing sheepishly, Tsuna shakes his head. "Ah, I also don't know," he says, rearranging his hoodie position to on top of his head. "It might take only a month… but you guys know how Xanxus is. I wouldn't be surprised if it took a year or more. Nono and tou-san… think that it will be better if I continue my studies there."

"What do you think yourself, Tsuna?" asks Yamamoto, letting go of his hold around Tsuna's neck.

"Although it might be a little lonely without you guys… I think it will be better if I go and prepare sooner. After all, I have to adjust to life in Vongola. By the way, because soon, a new semester will come… Nono asked if you guys… maybe… would like to go too? I… will be happy if you guys are around. Sorry, that sounds really selfish, right? Hahaha!"

.

The dark-haired figure suddenly stops on his track, looking at the back of Sawada Tsunayoshi's head with a penetrating gaze.

.

"Ah, it would be fun," says Yamamoto happily. "Squalo once asked—well… demanded it, actually—my oyaji also agreed when Squalo came that time… so, maybe, yes? Hahaha! And Tsuna will be there too! Yup, this new semester, then! How about you, Gokudera?"

"Of course!" Gokudera says excitedly. "I will go wherever Juudaime goes! Juudaime, there is no need to worry!"

"Thank you, Gokudera-kun, Yamamoto. I really don't know what I would do without you guys…"

_**Oo~~**~~oO**_

Hibari walked away. He didn't want to hear any more from Sawada Tsunayoshi and his annoying friends. Why was he eavesdropping on them in the first place? Huh, what a stupid decision on his part.

Gone? Hah, what kind of lie was that?

Hibari still doesn't get the announcement letter from the principal about Sawada's transference. And that kind of document couldn't normally be issued and processed that quickly.

If what Sawada Tsunayoshi said was true, then perhaps he should give his proposal to the principal of two weeks ago so he could also move when the winter term started.

Move to Italy?

What nonsense.

There was no way Sawada Tsunayoshi would go.

Sawada Tsunayoshi was part of Namimori.

… Always in Namimori…

… In…

By…

By Hibari's… side…

… How annoying.

All of that must be Alaude's. All of this must be Alaude's wishes. Must be Alaude's feelings.

Hibari… there was no way Hibari would feel like this. No way would he want Sawada Tsunayoshi to always be by his side.

But then why did he feel betrayed?

...Betrayed?

What was making Hibari feel betrayed?

There was a time when Hibari felt… doubt.

Felt that… he had done something wrong. Looking over something important…

_["You are always looking in the wrong direction…"]_

Alaude's words suddenly resonate inside of Hibari's head.

Snorting angrily, Hibari only continued walking. Continued to Namimori Jinja.

.

The heterochromatic colored eyes followed Hibari with anger.

This was too much…

The bluenette know that the reason Sawada Tsunayoshi was moving to Italy was more to avoid Hibari than anything else. He can't let Sawada Tsunayoshi go to that kind of place.

He would not let Tsunayoshi leave Chrome—and Mukuro—in Japan.

"An interesting watch, indeed," says Mukuro, grinning evilly. "But it is already time to contribute my own piece here… too bad, Hibari Kyouya. But, if Sawada Tsunayoshi leaves… I will never forgive you."

Mukuro never confesses his feelings to Tsunayoshi not for Hibari to hurt Tsunayoshi like that.

And Mukuro much preferred the death, rather than Tsunayoshi being taken away by that Dino… if there was someone who could protect Sawada Tsunayoshi from the darkness of the Mafia World, that would be no other but his eternal rival—Hibari.

"Thank you for the entertainment," whispered Mukuro. "But now, after waiting for so long, it is time to make a move…"

.

"Oi, Mukuro. What are you doing here?"

Mukuro sighed tiredly when he hears the annoying voice of the Arcobaleno Reborn who—Mukuro knows without having to look—is watching him with suspicion clear in those dark eyes. "Kufufu," Mukuro laughed shortly. "I… want to talk to you."

Reborn looked at Mukuro with surprise, it was unusual for this one boy to come for him. Mukuro only came to the Sawada residence willingly for two things; escorting Chrome and terrorizing Tsuna—personally, Reborn always looked forward to Mukuro coming for the second reason, it was always fun watching Mukuro bug his student. "Hm? You didn't come for Tsuna? How rare." Reborn comments, smirking evilly.

Other people might not see it, but Reborn knew Mukuro liked Tsuna—who showed it in the most childish way possible, the tugging on the pony-tail teasing. Other than Mukuro, Reborn knew that Dino also liked his otouto-bun. Sometime Reborn felt really proud of his little protégé.

But the problem was… Tsuna's feelings… Reborn doesn't understand them. Reborn knows Tsuna likes Hibari—oh god! Who couldn't see that? Tsuna was never good at hiding his feelings.

And Hibari also liked Tsuna.

But… why hadn't Tsuna told Hibari his feelings? Why has Hibari also not? Although according to Fon, Hibari also liked Tsuna and was aware of his feeling. Although Fon also mentioned that there was something wrong with Hibari.

Tsuna… was already able to hide one or two things from Reborn. The reason why Tsuna also calmly agreed to go to Italy for as long as necessary—although he was fighting tooth and nail about become the successor before—and Tsuna's life in the school, for Reborn was now unable to enter using his secret entrances.

"This is _about_ Sawada Tsunayoshi," says Mukuro, looking around. "… No one else is home?"

Shaking his head in reply, Reborn beckoned for Mukuro to follow him into the Sawada residence. "No. Mamman and Iemitsu went on a last minute shopping trip for Tsuna's birthday party tonight—you and the other Kokuyo Gang's members are also invited, Chrome must know by now, Tsuna went to get her just now—Fuuta is at his Sunday prep school, Bianchi went to god knows where and I-Pin and Lambo are at the Sasagawa's home."

"Good…" says Mukuro.

After they sit face to face in the living room, Reborn raises his eyebrow while tilting his fedora—indicating for Mukuro to begin talking. Sighing in annoyance because of Reborn's attitude, Mukuro roughly searched his gakuran pocket and then threw something to Reborn, who caught the little object without any problems.

Staring at the object that was actually a ring, Reborn let out a small sound of surprise when he saw the Vongola's family crest carved in great detail on the inner band of the ring.

And what made Reborn even more surprised… was the crest that was the holder of the ring's gem. "This… I have seen this bird crest somewhere…" mumbles Reborn. "This is one of the set of the 14 rings that the old man Talbot made for that bastard Spade—I still don't know why he bothered making Spade twice the amount he made for the other Guardians. We talked about those rings just this morning. Mist Ring level A+ if you count its power use at the current level… how did you get it?"

"Years ago. I got this after I… left that hell," replies Mukuro, laughing evilly when he remembered the darker part of his childhood. "I found it where we—Ken, Chikusa, and myself—were hiding. The crest made me curious back then, so I always carry it… but…"

"What?"

"That ring was a ring of death. Of course one is still able to use it to fight. But for an old ring made by Talbot… that ring felt… as if it didn't have any soul," says Mukuro, looking at Reborn with rare seriousness clear in his dual-colored eyes. "All of the rings made by Talbot were able to create a bridge for the soul that the previous owners to leave behind, like the Vongola Rings. And… Daemon Spade… was not this ring's owner."

"Hah?" Reborn was surprised. "You seem like you know a lot of thing. Explain."

"Kufufufu," Mukuro laughing softly. "History said that Talbot made a set—that was actually counted as two sets—for Daemon, right? But Daemon himself told me… that not all of the rings were made for him."

"Mukuro, you are beginning to confuse me…"

"Oya oya? Tell me then, why—like you said before—did Daemon Spade get twice the amount of rings compared to the other Guardians? Why did he get two Level A+ rings aside from his own Vongola Mist Ring, while the other only got one? Why the sets of rings from the first Cloud Guardian are nowhere to be found, yet his Vongola Ring is still in Vongola's possession?" interrogated Mukuro. "Why in your so-called safe keep, you have only one of each two rings of Daemon Spade? Why half of the rings that Talbot made 'for' Daemon have different designs although Talbot usually used the same design for each Famiglia?"

"I…"

"… This ring was… Daemon's friend's. This was owned by a Hibari that became the First Cloud Guardian's wife. Generation to generation inherited inside of the Hibari's family along with the other rings Talbot once made for her and her descendants along with the First Cloud Guardian's rings," said Mukuro. "Inside of my dream… Daemon told me that. You… you wouldn't believe me if I didn't show you that ring. If I didn't show you real evidence that my dream was not an ordinary dream. All of Vongola's Guardians—" Mukuro said with a grimace on his handsome face, showing his unwillingness to be categorized as one. "—have a period where they were approached by the First Generation and have a dream or such about Vongola's Golden Age. According to Daemon Spade."

Reborn nodded, inside his heart, praising Mukuro who understood how stubborn Reborn was. Then, Reborn noticed something. _Dreams… ring… Daemon—first generation… gems... Hibari… Primo… Alaude… Tsuna's strange behavior…_

"… Mukuro… you know what happened to Tsuna and the reason."

That was a statement, not a question. Mukuro could see that Reborn finally had the final pieces of the puzzle that the black haired man needed to solve since more than half a year ago. "Yes," said Mukuro. "Just like me, Primo came to Sawada Tsunayoshi's consciousness via the Vongola Sky Ring. Although the appearance changes, the inside is still the same."

So that was why… that was the reason why Tsuna said he was 'dreaming' every time he started acting strange. But… that didn't explain why Tsuna was acting strange to begin with. If what Mukuro said true… Tsuna not supposed to react _that_ strongly.

But Reborn don't know that Mukuro was lying about the coming of the first Vongola Guardians to every successor. As far as Mukuro knew, only Hibari Kyouya and Sawada Tsunayoshi had gotten that… kind of visit. Daemon himself had once or twice communicated to Mukuro via his dreams—especially about the Arcobaleno battle—but that was more due to the fact that Daemon and Mukuro both understood the circle of life and death, thus they could communicate so easily, if one didn't count the bickering of the two sarcastic illusionists, of course. Daemon and Mukuro had both already come to the decision that if they told the Number One Hitman everything honestly, he would blow.

And Mukuro wasnot going to take a risk where it might make Tsuna needlessly suffer… while Daemon only wanted to fulfill the promise that his friend made to both Primo and Alaude.

So that that woman could rest in peace.

The reason was somewhat quite noble for Daemon, which was the only reason Mukuro had agreed to help him with his plan. Mukuro could still remember when the man that Mukuro hated with every fiber of his body appeared in front of him for the first time.

_("Why do you think I will help you, Daemon Spade?" asked Mukuro, glaring at Daemon who stared back at him with a blank face._

"_I don't think you will," said Daemon, a brief look of sadness in his eyes before he brushed it away. "… But would you feel differently if someone you considered your little sister—even part of yourself—could not sleep in peace because of an unfulfilled promise, Rokudo Mukuro?"_

"_What are you—"_

"_For you, Dokuro Chrome is someone that woman is for me. Oh yes, although she is long dead, she is still a part of me," Daemon said, smirking a little at Mukuro's surprised look. "You Tenth Generation really do remind me of us."_

"… _You want to help someone?"_

"… _I want her to have a peaceful death, Rokudo. Fulfill for me this one wish—because you will feel the same grief I feel now if Dokuro Chrome is to die with regret like hers.")_

Mukuro did accept Daemon's request. Because deep down he knew that the man was honest, and if Chrome—for whom his feelings for was just like Daemon's for his friend—were to die with such a regret like an unfulfilled promise, Mukuro himself would make sure he would fulfill the promise on Chrome's behalf. Although, according to Daemon—Mukuro shouldn't begin thinking of Daemon's 'other self' like Mukuro's own 'other self'.

_["For they have nothing alike except the similar relationship with the Mist," whispers Daemon while smiling fondly—if not a little sadly.] _

"Oya," Mukuro whispered. "Sawada Tsunayoshi's problem is far worse than that… he—and Hibari Kyouya—both are undergoing an identity crisis."

"Identity crisis?" asks Reborn sharply. "What do you mean?"

"Kufufufu, it is no longer a secret that Primo and Sawada Tsunayoshi look much too alike. Primo wanting something that coincidentally almost identical—if not completely identical—to what Sawada Tsunayoshi also wants… and Sawada Tsunayoshi not knowing if he is the one who wants that person or Primo. Whether they want the same... or a different person."

"... Hibari Kyouya and Alaude."

"Oya? Alaude? So that is the name of the First Cloud Guardian?" asks Mukuro, almost with an innocent tone devoid of any regret at all.

"HOW COULD YOU READ ALL THOSE VONGOLA HISTORY BOOKS WITHOUT KNOWING THE FOUNDER OF VONGOLA'S CLOUD GUARDIAN?" yells Reborn—who, right after his curse had been lifted, demanded all the Guardians including Mukuro to read the big book about Vongolan History—in annoyance. "Didn't Daemon at least tell you who the fuck the First Cloud is?"

"Kufufufu~ too bad. Looks like the bad relationship between the Cloud and Mist Guardian did not only happen in this generation," says Mukuro cheerily.

Snorting in anger and slight humor, Reborn shakes his head. "… Wait… then it will be easy, right?" said Reborn.

"Hou? You think so?" asks Mukuro, glaring at Reborn who is smirking contentedly. "Too bad, but this problem is not as easily solved as you believe. How do you think I am able to know _exactly_ what Sawada Tsunayoshi's problem is?"

"You were inside his dreams—again," says Reborn, looking at Mukuro with barely concealed disgust. "Tsuna told me you had intruded upon his dreams previously, but he hasn't mentioned anything like that recently."

Smiling sadistically, Mukuro only shakes his head. "Don't you see, Arcobaleno Reborn? If Sawada Tsunayoshi has not even realized that I stand there… watching… how big do you think the problem really is?"

Silent, Reborn begins to see the weight of Tsuna's problem. "… Damn! Mukuro! You know what you must do? Was this the reason he so easily agreed to go to Italy—he wants to avoid Hibari and the others? Is this what he might be worried about?" asks Reborn, standing up.

"...It's true," confirms Mukuro. "Because of that I came to you today. I… want the spare ring that Vongola Primo owned… the one of A+ level, one of the rings that we just talked about… The one in Italy to be given to Tsunayo—"

"You are lucky," cut in Reborn. "That ring… was Nono and Xanxus's birthday present for Tsuna."

"Oh!" Mukuro is startled when his earrings begin to shine and the see-through body of Daemon Spade appears in between Mukuro and Reborn.

"_**Primo**__... __is already here__?"_says Daemon. _"__Then… everything will be easier, indeed.__"_

_**Oo~~**__**TO BE CONTINUED**__**~~Oo**_

_**.**_

_**.**_

_**.**_

**SUGI WA: KIMOCHI.**


	3. Feeling

**Disclaimer**: Standard disclaimer applied KatekyoHitman Reborn © Amano Akira.

**Warning****:** Mention of OCs, heterosexuality, homosexuality, straight, gay. Possibly able to give the reader a headache, grammar and spelling errors and the worst choice of vocabulary.

**Pairing**: Main 1827 and AlaGio—one-sided 6927, D27. Mentioned DaEle, AlaOC, GioOC.

**Summary****:** And they are not sure… are their feelings theirs or Alaude and Giotto's feelings? Are they really loved and loving and not only a substitute or just a vessel? Because of this, they are scared to walk together.

**Beta Reader:** _nightfayte_, my beloved /?/ beta who kindly beta-ing this story for me ^^

**Glossary/Random Japanese excuse/A bit of spoiler: ***Suki da: I like you. That scene will be a bit anti-climactic if I use the exact word "like", so I just made an exception for this one and threw some random Japanese here—because for them to use "aishiteru" would be really awkward because in Japan as aishiteru is reserved for someone you have dated for a long time already and even for your spouse. I'm sorry for this.

**Dedicated toSitiNadiah and Myself (?)—sorry girl, I was only able to give the promised lemon now and the fact that it is crappy as hell. Sorry.**

_**Oo~~**~~oO**_

_**DREAM, MEMORY, AND FEELING**_

_**Dai Sankawa:**_

_**Kimochi**_

_**Oo~~**~~oO**_

Mukuro watched Tsuna, who was talking excitedly with Chrome and Fon, waiting for the right moment to draw Tsunayoshi and Hibari Kyouya's attention—who was standing as far as he could from the crowd and glaring sharply at Tsunayoshi. Mukuro can hear Daemon whispering frantically to himself inside ofMukuro's head, cursing Alaude and Giotto who _never_ listened to his story about the afterlife and look where they are now. Not for the first time,Mukuroquestions the state of Daemon's mind.

_["… Ring…"]_ whispers Daemon suddenly. _["It really is fate. Hibari Kyouya is wearing Alaude's ring…"]_

Mukuro's eyes quickly fell toHibari's right hand, where a new ring was slipped onhis middle finger. Smirking evilly, Mukurogently rubbed the 'death' ring which he wore on his second finger.

The ring that Daemon had taken—_stolen_—from the Hibari's residence years ago. "Life and death," he says suddenly, slowly but clearly, make all the heads turn to him. "The wheel of ."

Mukuro's eyes shone with mirth and laughter when he catches the reaction of Tsunayoshi and Hibari who were watching Mukuro with disbelief on their faces. "Kufufufu, who understands the reincarnation circle better than myself?" Mukurocontinues, the tone of his voice more dangerous than usual. "And you, the souls who want answers… are you finally giving up…?"

"ENOUGH!" Tsunayoshi screams, covering both of his ears. "I don't want… I don't want to hear it!"

The silence falls suddenlyin the formerly lively room,Gokuderaglares at Mukuro, blaming the Mist Guardian in silence. But Mukuro only chuckles lowly and disappearsinto the mist, only to appear again behind Tsuna and removing Tsuna's hands from his ears with uncharacteristic gentleness.

"Oya,oya? Is little Vongola Decimo scared to hear the truth? Do you still want to hide and dodge the problem, and continue to pretend that it is not a problem?"Mukurowhispers intoTsunayoshi's ear—who had frozen, honey brown eyes wide.

"ROKUDO!" Dino calls angrily, "Let Tsuna go!"

Mukurogives Dino a cold look before letting his gaze wander to Hibari, who only watchedthe evenst which unfold before him with a blank look on his eyes. "Is Hibari Kyouya also afraid to listen to the truth?" Mukuropurred, absolute delight clear in his mismatched eyes when he saw the Skylark tense. "The hurtful truth… ."

"Mu-Mukuro-sama..."

"Shhh, Chrome," mumbles Mukuro, "And if Vongola Primo and his Cloud Guardian are brave enough to come out… it would indeed be very much appreciated. Heh, the cowards who were too afraid to come out and_face each other before_."

"Primo can't!" Tsuna says, suddenly breaking his silence. "He… he once said he wasn't able to be seen!"

Smiling in victory, Mukuro nods at Reborn who steppedin front of the silent crowd. "_Before_, he couldn't," says Reborn, folding his hands in front of his chest in a haughty manner. "Before, you guys still didn'thave the rings that you wear now. According to Talbot—after a very long investigation and a lot of blackmail material—which I had originally wanted to use for other purposes, so you better be thankful by the way—it was discovered that the ring that Vongola Primo owned and Tsuna now wears, and Alaude's ring—yes Hibari, that ring was Alaude's, I still don't know why or how that Ring is with your family—had another function…which _we will all_**know** if you guys agree to light your Flames on those rings. And no, the two of you have no right to decline—cowards."

Looking at Reborn and Mukuro angrily, Hibari then lit his ring with huge amounts of Cloud Flame which—strangely—didn't make the ring he was wearing break. Suddenly, the First Cloud Guardian stood in front of them, transparent and confused, but still able to be seen by everyone. _"Wha…"_

"_... Alaude...?"_

The silver-blonde man quickly turned to Sawada Tsunayoshi, who had also poured his Sky Flames into his fisted hands. But, it was not the small teenager with doe eyes that shone with fear and confusion who made the tears in Alaude's eyes fall without he himself noticing. The transparent, golden haired male who stood beside Sawada Tsunayoshi with wide, surprised sunset colored eyes that also been looking at Alaude's own steel blue ones was what made Alaude feel like half of his burden had been lifted.

"_Giotto..."_

"That right," Mukuropractically purredwith delight, his mismatched eyes shining with something unholy. "You stupid creatures. You are different souls. Sawada Tsunayoshi is Sawada Tsunayoshi. Primo is Primo. The first Cloud Guardian is the first Cloud Guardian. Hibari Kyouya is Hibari Kyouya."

Tsuna turnedtoMukuro, his eyes still bright with panic. "How—"

"Kufufufu, Sawada Tsunayoshi. Don't look down on me," Mukurosmirks, "I know even more than the two of you who experienced it."

"_That ring!"_ Giotto suddenly raises his voice in anger when turns to seeMukuro, who was still standing behind his descendant. _"That's hers! How—how could you get your hand on it? That was the Hibari family's…"_

"_Made especially for that woman,"_ Alaude asks, eyes widened slightly. _"… You… are you Daemon's successor?"_

The veininMukuro's temple twitched and the illusionist defended himself sharply, "Don't place me along with that watermelon-head, kufufufu~"

"Explain," growls Hibari who had been silent until now. "What is the meaning of all this?"

Smirking sadistically, Mukuro waves his hand in a carefree manner and walks away from Tsuna. "Kufufufu, this is not an easy situation to explain," Mukuro began. "It is better if you don't know the details. But… the truth is, the four of you have misunderstood."

"Primo and his Cloud Guardian have beendead for a long time already. The pieces of their souls that had been stored inside the Vongola Ring can't remember nor understand clearly what has happened. They also don't understand how these mysterious rings—" Mukuro paused a bit while touching one of his earrings lightly. "—worked because even Talbot didn't know. Reincarnation is a very complicated process, you know. Not all souls can be Reborn. Only souls with deep regret, hated by the God and Demon, and doomed to pay back all the sins of their past continue to be reborn. And thus, your souls are different. Physically, you are similar—but in the name of six hells—you two weren't really reborn. The dead will stay dead, the ones who live now are only themselves."

"While thatis true," Reborn continues, "But the Vongola is unique. In every ring… Vongola Gear now, the 'time' of every wearer werecarved into it. The real bearer of the rings… especially the direct descendants from the original owners like you two will be able to feel… déjà-vu, in a sense… you would be able to have the memories that had been buried since long ago in the back of your conciousness."

Fon suddenly opened his mouth, commenting, "Kyouya-kun once said something about a strange feeling when he saw Sawada-san. Alpena Mountain, Venice… was that also part of Alaude's memory then, that was being recalled and awakened when he saw Sawada-san, who looks so alike to Primo and… also has the same 'carved time' inside of him?"

"Bingo," answersMukuro. "Their souls are their own. Their minds are theirs. Their feelings… are their own feelings."

Suddenly, with a loud noise, Tsuna falls down into a sitting position—his eyes wide and face paling. "S-so…?" A bright blush suddenly marring his face, Tsuna steals a glance at Hibari who watching him with an unreadable gaze. "I… to Hibari-san…"

"_Wait,"_ Alaude suddenly cuts Tsuna off,_"Then… why… do I feel like only the two of them will be able to bring us together…?"_

Mukuroshruggs his shoulder nonchalantly. "That was your own instinct, I guess," Reborn is the one who answers, looking down with a smirk on his face. "Instinct like a wild animal and the Hyper Intuition."

"Intuition which is true," saysMukuro. "Maybe. I'm not too sure, kufufu~"

"Oi, oi, Mukuro!" Yamamoto says happily, looking like he didn't even feel the former tension, unlike the other occupant who was still rigid.

"_You can help us,"_ whispers Giotto, surprise clear in his eyes. _"I know… you—and Daemon? Really? You two… you two were thinking of a way to help us…"_

"Oya, oya? What an annoying intuition," Mukuro saysflippantly. "Kufufufu, but right on the spot, like usual. I can't guarantee the result because this has never happened before and even though every dimension is remotely different—no one else has ever tried this. But… Hibari Kyouya and Sawada Tsunayoshi can help you two be together again. With these two rings—to unite the two separated rings together for the first and hopefully last time with their Flames."

Gokudera suddenly cutsMukuro off with doubt clear on his handsome face. "But that's dangerous," Gokudera says angrily. "There's reason why it's never been tried before. I once read about it in my father's book… even though the element of Sky Flame is Harmony—"

"I… I will try," says Tsuna, looking at Gokuderawith an apologetic face. "I-if Hibari-san agrees too…"

"Tsuna!"

"Tsuna-nii!"

"Son!"

"Sawada-san!"

"_Jyuudaime!_"

"_Bossu!__"_

Almost everyone in the room shouted in opposition, but Tsuna only shook his head—determination clearin his eyes.

"I want to help… I have to help them," Tsuna says, voice strong. "I… even though I do feel angry and upset… and sad… but… but Primo often helped me when I was in a pinch. Wait. Byakuran? You… you know exactly _how_ to do this, right?"

Byakuran, who had been there since the very beginning only sat and watched, smiling like Christmas had already come and clapping his hands like a child. "Nice, nice! Very good!" Byakuran cheers. "Instantly knowing that the me in the other dimensions know how to do it… fufufu~ I want to have that kind of intuition—"

"Byakuran-san!"

"Shou-chan, you party pooper, mou~" Byakuranpouts, clearly sulking at Irie who only glared back at him sternly.

While Byakuranwas busy giving his best puppy-kicked look at Irie who didn't even budge, Tsuna watches Hibari who still hasn't given his approval, begging silently.

"Fine," says Hibari, finally agreeing.

_**Oo~~**~~oO**_

They don't know how exactly, everything happened too fast for them to understand instantly. Byakuran's instructionswere not clear, and they know Byakuran did that for his own twisted amusement. They did everything with the feeling that it would fail and that they would die. They won't make it. At least, that was what Tsuna's thinks because not even his Hyper Intuition knows if they will able to succeedoinn this one or not.

Tsuna...

He feels stupid. Stupider than usual. He feels… ashamed of himself. At himself.

If only he had thought of Mukuro. If only he had tought of askingMukuro since the very beginning, everything would have been solved long ago and not need to be dragged on like this. Maybe his fear and admittedly his superiority over his Mist Guardian were to blame—and deep inside his heart, Tsuna knows that it is no one else's fault but his.

Primo and Alaude stand side by side, unable to touch each other. Both of them—shadow, soul, ghost—willonly able to solemnly watch Tsuna and Hibari, both pouring their Flames into the two rings that had suddenly melted and united together to form a whole new ring,leaving everything to Tsuna and Hibari.

Hibari...

Stealing a glance at the handsome yet scowling, angered face, Tsuna can only sigh heavily. His feelings… are already clear. Hibari had rejected him because the black haired teenager had thought that Tsuna's feelings had been directed to other person. But then again… how about _now_?

Will Hibari reject Tsuna again?

Tsuna… doesn't have the courage to hope.

_[__Pain__...]_

_[__Burning__...]_

_[__Whispers resonating… slowly but surely getting louder every second…_

_[__The happy and overjoyed voices of two women…__]_

_["__Finally…__"]_

Tsuna lets out a sound of surprise when the figures of the two women—one he can recognize as Elena while the other black haired woman who wore a luxurious kimono beside Elena was a complete stranger to him. Although the thought that there is something in that woman that reminds Tsuna of Hibari although their face is anything but alike, crosses his mind. The dark haired woman smiles slightly and nods her head at Tsuna, once again mouthing 'finally'—if there was a voice that went with it, hewas not able to hear it. Elena opened her mouth to laugh happily—graceful and also beautiful—although her laugh he can't hear, before also moving her mouth and saying without a sound '_grazie_'.

All of a suddenly, Tsuna comes back to focusing on the two rings that have finally become one. The two gems of the rings, the orange and dark blue join to be one, like the yin-yang symbol. Suddenly something is touching Tsuna's hand… Hibari holding Tsuna's hand gently.

Both of the teenager then switch their gazes to Alaude and Primo—the latter one clasping both his hands to his mouth and looking at them with wide eyes bright with tears and gratitude—both then walking to Tsuna who was offering them the ring—their ring—with his free hand which was not being gripped by Hibari.

"_Thank you… thank you so very much…"_ whispers Primo, stretching his hand to touch the ring along with Alaude.

Slowly, when their fingers touch the gem of the ring… Cloud and Sky Flames erupt from the gem and cover both Primo and Alaude before disappearing.

Primo and Alaude slowly turn to gaze at each other and smile slightly. They then turned to the light, like fireflies to a flame. _"Once again, I offer my gratitude to you all... Decimo and also his Cloud and Mist Guardian,"_he whispers,_"I don't know what I—no, we—would have done without you. Thank you… and see you later, be it when you need us or when you finally join us… good bye, until that time comes."_

"Wait," Tsuna says suddenly. "There… is something I want to ask."

Alaude and Primo look at each other once again for a few, brief seconds before nodding in unison. _"What do you want to know?"_ asks Alaude, slowly and clearly.

Tsuna stares helplessly at his accentors before curiousitymakse him speak up, "T-that woman… I think I saw her figure in my head along with Elena—" Tsuna can see that all the people who had stepped aside to give them room are now looking at each other. Mukuro was the only exception because he is looking at Tsuna from behind the transparent forms of Primo and Alaude. "—the woman who covered your relationship… the one that Primo said loved Vongola more than anything… the reason why Hibari-san was able to be born—" Hibari's hand that was still grabbing Tsuna's tightened its grip before Tsuna squeezed back, calming Hibari. "—what is her name? I… if she is like Elena, forgotten in Vongola's history… I want to at least give her proper regards…"

Primo and Alaude are silent before both shake their heads sadly. _"I can't,"_ Alaude says. _"I can't remember… what her name is… was she actually real or just fragment of my imagination? I don't know."_

Primo also agrees with Alaude, his eyes dimming for some time before his smile is back on his gentle face. _"But maybe that was what she wanted," _Primo says gently. _"Even when she was still alive, she lived as a shadow. She… whose name even forgotten by her own descendants… I… am not able to remember anymore. But this is nothing to be disappointed of—because she hated to remember and to be reminded."_

"Then at least, I want to know," Mukuro announce suddenly, surprising everyone. "Was… is… she happy? You can answer that, right?"

Smile brightening even further, Primo nods at Tsuna's doubtful face and Hibari's emotionless mask. _"That, I can answer. She is happy."_

"And… you?" whispers Tsuna, look amazed when the two of them finally disappeared completely, but not before both Alaude and Primo's voice resonated in the room, _"Yes… finally, we can be happy."_

.

Tsuna doesn't know what happened, but suddenly, the hand that was gripping his disappeared and moved to his shoulder,yanking him forwards before something warm covered his lips. After a few seconds, when he is finally able to overcome his surprise and is able to think again, he noticed that the thing that covered his lips wereHibari's own—which made Tsuna's face flame a bright red.

A few, long seconds pass, Tsuna stunned before he is finally able to kiss Hibari back, tears gathering in his eyes although he holds them in.

When they finally able to separate from oneanother, the former stunned atmosphere was broken with Gokudera's angry cussing at Hibari, Iemitsu who was shouting gibberish about his son's innocence, Nana and all the other women screaming delightedly, Reborn and Byakuran merely observing, a slight smiles on their faces and Julie who whistled with a smirk on their face, and the others surprised shout. But, Tsuna can onlyfocus on Hibari who strangely looked at him gently before bringing Tsuna closer in a hug—automatically making the others fall into a stunned silence once again before making a new ruckus.

"… Don't go," Hibari says slowly. "Don't leave me when I am finally able to have you… Tsunayoshi…"

"Hibari-san..."

_**Oo~~**~~oO**_

Hibari pulls Tsuna out from the room which was once again buzzing with excitement—although Gokudera's and Iemitsu'scries had still not ceased in the slightest—to talk. Walking past Dino, Reborn, and Fon who winked happily at them, making Tsuna's face turn red once again and then they walked pastMukurowho was talking with Chrome, the pineapple-haired male only smirking slyly and shaking his head—ignoring Tsuna's whispered thanks.

When they are finally safe and alone in the garden, Hibari once again brought Tsuna into his arms. "Tsunayoshi…" whispers Hibari slowly, without any hesitation. "_Suki… da…*_"

When he hears the sudden confession, Tsuna is only able to look at Hibari with eyes wide with surprise. Once again, the tears gather in his eyes and flow down his cheeks without the Vongola Decimo able to stop them. With shaking hands, Tsuna returns his senior's hug. "Yes… yes…" whispers Tsunayoshi. "Me too… me too… about Hibari-san…"

"Tsunayoshi," Hibari says. "I know you can't _not_ go. My words before… were selfish. I will… go with you…"

Tsuna can feel his entire body freeze and he can't believe his ears. No matter what happened, those words were just too far-fetched to be true. Hibari Kyouya… _that_ Hibari Kyouya was agreeing to leave his beloved Namimori? Only so he oculd be together with Tsuna?

Whether he wanted it or not, Tsuna can't help but feel special. The happiness that flooded his chest made the cold night bearable. Pressing his cheek toHibari's shoulder, Tsuna sighs in content. "… Thank you… Hibari-san…"

_**Oo~~**~~oO**_

The past, future and present.

Yesterday, today, tomorrow…

Memory, hope, facts…

Everything is important. Nothing is important.

Everything shapes them.

The reason why their feelings were able to born and bloom was maybe because of the past.

But he is not Alaude. And Tsunayoshi was not Giotto.

In the end, Hibari was able to understand and accept that.

They have different souls, different bodies, different lives, different minds, different fates…

They are not the same.

A lot of time passed before they were able to understand that. A lot of tears, pain, and sacrifice so they can let the burden go.

But they still feel thankful.

They are in debt to Alaude and Giotto. Because if not for those two… they don't know what would have happened.

Now… now is their turn to love each other.

They hope that Alaude and Giotto can be together—if not when they were still alive, but at least they could finally be together in death.

In spite of all that, now is their turn to walk together.

The inseparable… sky and cloud.

.

Their marriage was kind of extravagant for Hibari, who hated crowds. Varia, Cavallone, Shimon, Arcobaleno, Millefiore, and the other Guardians along with the people who were close to Tsuna—because aside from Fon and Kusakabe, Hibari no longer had any family nor other close friends. Too much noise, alchohol, and crowding. Hibari was glad when he and Tsuna were finally able to go back to their room.

"... Kyouya-san," Tsuna gasps when Hibari pushes the younger male to the bed.

"... Want me to stop?" Hibar asks, stradling Tsuna and begin to nibble on the Decimo's jaw line.

Chukling almost resignedly, Tsuna only reaches out to yank Hibari's head away so he can press their lips together. "What was that?" whispers Tsuna on Hibari's lips. "Tonight—tonight is special. There is no way I would ask that impossible demand. Kyouya-san wouldn't stop anyway."

Smirking at his spouse, Hibari presses their lips together again—which Tsuna accept with eagerness if the open mouth was something to tell by. Tongues battling for dominance, their hands beginning to explore each other and suddenly they are naked with Hibari grinding his hips on Tsuna. Their faces are flushed in arousal and Tsuna let out a small groan, finally ending their kiss, when one of Hibari'shand grippedhim firmly while the other played with his nipple.

"Stop—teasing me," whispers Tsuna intoHibari's ears—which only make the older male smirk.

Glaring, the twenty two year old man begins to nibble on Hibari's ears, which is within his reach, making the taller man let out a surprised moan, tightening his grip on Tsuna's staff. Groaning, Tsuna began to move his hips, grinding ontoHibari's already fully erect staff which pressed onto his thigh. "Gentler will you?" murmurs Tsuna. "Or I will triple your documents."

"… Since when were you able to talk back to me, Tsunayoshi?" whispers Hibari, who replied with more nibbling and licking on his ears before Tsuna says Reborn's name in embarrassment.

"Indeed, that baby is always the reason for almost everything. Now, less talking and more sex."

"And since when have you become such a pervert, I wonder." Tsuna says with chuckles that turn into louder laughter when Hibari begin lapping on his nipple teasingly. "Hey, that tickles!"

"I said, stop talking," Hibari says again, his free hand that wasn't jerking Tsuna slowly moving to the side to reach for the bottle of lube on their nightstand.

Opening the cap with his teeth, Hibari bit back a groan when the grinding on his staff didn't stop and got stronger instead, pinching the head of Tsuna's staff before rubbing it's slit, Hibari glaring down at Tsuna to remind the younger man to slow down, which only makes Tsuna smile gently at him. Sighing in defeat, Hibari begins to lubricate his fingers before pulling himself away completely from Tsuna who give him a dirty look. Smirking, Hibari brings one of Tsuna's legs to his shoulder, which make Tsuna laugh.

His laugh is cut short when Hibari inserted a his wet finger into his hole. "Ngh," Tsuna moans when Hibari inserting another finger and begins to make scissoring motion.

After a while, Tsuna prodsHibari's shoulder to get his spouse's attention. "Hn?"

"Enough. Get inside now." says Tsuna, face flushed and sweat marring his forehead, the caramel-colored eyes bright with arousal and something much gentler.

Smirking in satisfaction, Hibari aligned his length to Tsuna's entrance before pushing himself in in one go. Screaming in surprise and a bit of pain, Tsuna's hands shoot up to cling toHibari's shoulders and bring the man closer to him. "S-slow now," mumbles Tsuna when Hibari begin to move slowly. "Ngh… haaa…"

Moving his hips so he can meet Hibari'sthrust half-way, Tsuna's lips sought outHibari'sown which the man accepted with more than willingness. Slowly, Hibari's movementsbegan to get faster and harder and Tsuna's began to clenching and unclench onHibari's staff insidecof him, making the two of them a moaning mess. "Hnngh…" Hibari moans slightly when he moves his hip to get better angle to hit Tsuna's prostrate—the position one he know better than anyone else.

"Agh… Kyou—Kyouya-san…"

"Come, Tsunayoshi." whispers Hibari seductively into his spouse's red ear—satisfied to find that his lover is still able to get embarrassed even after all of the years they had been together.

As ifHibari's command was the trigger, Tsuna let out a scream as he comes, dirtying his and Hibari's stomach—not that Hibari cared. Thrusting a few more times while holding back his groan, Hibari also came inside Tsuna before slowly pulling himself out to lay himself beside the panting Vongola Don. Smiling slightly, Hibari drapes his hand around Tsuna who smiles back at him.

"The same eyes," Tsuna suddenly says when they finally regain their breath.

Raising his eyebrow, Hibari hugs Tsuna's waist tighter and brings the younger man closer. "Tsunayoshi?"

The Vongola Decimo only smiles slightly and touchesHibari's face before leaning closer and kissing the man's—who he finally had the right to call his own—temple. "But you are Kyouya-san… mine…"

Understanding what Tsuna meant, Hibari smiled again. "That—is supposed to be…" whispers Hibari.

Tsuna only remains quiet, as if remembering something. "Kyouya-san," says Tsuna suddenly, breaking the comfortable silence around them.

"Tsunayoshi?"

"Forever?"

Looking at the gentle caramel colored eyes which were always shining with kindness, Hibari can't _not_smile and kiss the half-open and already bruised lips of Sawada Tsunayoshi. "Yes. Forever."

And, different from the "forever" that had once been said as a lie wrapped in the empty yet big hope of Primo and Alaude… they said it as a vow.

This time… they will not let their relationship be separated like the Vongola Primo and his Cloud Guardian. They can be together as long as they want—forever. They won't let anyone or anything separate them.

To hell with the need to have asuccessor for Vongola, Verde wasn't called an genius for nothing…

That was why… they will… be happy for Alaude and Giotto too.

Forever…

And although "forever" is an ambiguous word… if it was Sawada Tsunayoshi and Hibari Kyouya… maybe—no—_that was definitely_ not something impossible.

.

.

_**~~**The End**~~**_

_**.**_

_**.**_

_**Oo~~***__**EPILOGUE**__***~~oO**_

_**Mukuro and Daemon**_

In the end, Mukuro agreed to the invitation to go over to Italy with Tsuna and the rest of the Guardians. If Tsunayoshi really had to be in Italy, thenMukuro and Chrome were not going to be alone in Japan without the one who they treasured the most. At least, Mukurocouldalways protect Tsunayoshi if he stayed by the Decimo's side.

And that day was their departing day.

Mukuro knew he didn't have much time left—that he should have been on his way already. But, really. He couldn't go without visiting that place at least once—something that he was supposed to do since a few weeks before when he had agreed to go. To finally accept his position as the Mist Guardian of the Vongola Famiglia.

He was kneeling in front of one of the tombs in the Hibari family's graveyard—Mukuro couldn't help but think that the Hibari family was far too rich for their own good, even owning their own hill for their graveyard while other families in Japan only have one grave for an entire family. Shaking his head for thinking foolishly, Mukurobegins tracing the small ring on his finger before finally pulling it out of his ring and putting it beside the incense holder, the small stone the same color of his own Flame gleaming under the kind sunlight of the beginning of winter. In silence, the illusionist then lit up one of the offerings before clapping his hands together in front of his face—praying.

Right at that moment, Mukuro's earrings begin to shine brightly and indigo colored mist surrounds the teen before the see-through figure of Daemon Spade appears, also kneeling beside Mukuro and touches the black stone gingerly, his finger tracing the already unreadable kanji.

"_I am sorry for all my selfishness until now…"_Daemon whispered. _"I tried to pay all that back in this way… I don't know if this was enough. But now… now, you finally can sleep in peace. Your promise… your promise so that the two of them could be together again was already fulfilled. Good night… —n—chan…"_

Mukuro opened his eyes, watching Daemon with wonder while also trying to hear the name that Daemon had whispered. But, the end of fall's wind that was a remainder of the changing leaves rustled, making whatever name that Daemon and only Daemon knew lost to the sound of wind and the gentle rustling of the disturbed leaves. Shivering, Mukuropulls his scarf even tighter around his neck and stands, looking at Daemon who still knelt in front of the tomb.

When Daemon finally says something toMukuro, the man doesn't even spare his successor a glance, but still stared sadly and yet, fondly at the tomb while slowly disappearinginto nothingness like Giotto and Alaude had some weeks before that. _"Thank you very much,"_ murmurs Daemon who still traced the tomb gently, like a brother to his beloved younger sister. _"Now, I will go. I will never appear in front of you nor disturb you again—unless we actually have been called to help you guys again. Now, I can rest in peace too. Maybe meet Elena once more—I don't know. The ring which Elena long ago once possessed is now gone. Been destroyed years ago. This is goodbye, RokudoMukuro."_

Daemon finally disappeared completely, leaving Mukuro to stand alone in the middle of the empty graveyard. Smirking slightly, Mukuro then turns around and walks away. Leaving behindthe grave—the grave of the woman whose name was finally forgotten completely. Leaving the ring that suddenly shone brightly before finally dimming, completely.

The ring that was never going to shine again.

"..._BuonNotte_, _Vongola Primo Famiglia_," whispersMukuro, not once looking back even when the ring shone and kept walking away. His scarf flew around him while his smirk—one could even call that a smile—never wavered. "Be happy… all of us."


End file.
